The OPEC+ oil alliance, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, produced an average of 42.83 million barrels of oil per day last month, down 238,000 barrels per day (minus 0.5%) compared to the level in November, reports the EFE agency.

These data are presented in the report published on Wednesday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to data calculated based on estimates from independent institutes, Kazakhstan reduced its production the most, extracting 1.5 million barrels per day, 237,000 barrels per day less compared to the previous month. The next countries with the lowest production reductions were Russia, with 9.3 million barrels per day (minus 73,000 barrels per day) and Venezuela, with 896,000 barrels per day (minus 60,000 barrels per day), according to Agerpres.

These decreases were offset by increases in other member states of the alliance, which “opened their taps” according to the latest increase established, which came into effect on December 1. Among them, Saudi Arabia stands out in particular, with 10.07 million barrels per day (plus 27,000 barrels per day) and Iraq, with 4.12 million barrels per day (plus 55,000 barrels per day).

These two countries are among the eight that in April 2025 began to gradually offset, month by month, the voluntary production cuts applied since 2023 to support the prices of “black gold”. Up to and including December, they agreed on total monthly increases of 2.9 million barrels per day, equivalent to about 2.8% of world production.

The alliance thus made a strategic change, which involves accepting lower prices to recover the market share lost as a result of production cuts.

But, in the context of the marked decline in prices – both Brent oil and Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil ended 2025 with the largest percentage declines in quotations since 2020, of about 20%, OPEC + decided to suspend the increase in production and keep it stable during January, February and March 2026.