OPEC throttles output in May

Paris: Major oil producers sharply cut back output in May, data showed on Wednesday, as part of a concerted effort to prop up prices that have fallen dramatically in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic.

In the latest monthly report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, data showed that the cartel´s 13 member states throttled output by 6.2 million barrels per day (bpd) last month.

Back in April, OPEC and key allies such as Russia -- grouped together under the wider OPEC+ banner -- had pledged to cut output by 9.7 million bpd from May 1 until the end of June.

In a further crisis meeting earlier this month, the oil-producing nations subsequently agreed to extend those cuts through July.

OPEC itself does not officially publish exact output figures in its regular monthly bulletins, but instead cites data compiled by so-called secondary sources.

And according to those statistics, OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia bore the brunt of the cuts, curbing its output by 3.16 million bpd alone.

The United Arab Emirates curtailed production by 1.364 million bpd and Kuwait axed 921,000 bpd.