Saudi Arabia to cut oil output by another 1 million barrels a day

The move will reduce the production of the world’s biggest crude exporter to 7.5 million barrels per day

Neighbouring Kuwait and United Arab Emirates said they would also cut oil production to support the Saudi initiative

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Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil processing plant. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Published: 1:30am, 12 May 2020Updated: 2:46am, 12 May 2020

Saudi Arabia said on Monday that it had asked oil giant Aramco to cut its output by an additional 1 million barrels per day (bpd) starting in June to support prices that have crashed amid slumping demand.

The move will reduce the production of the world’s biggest crude exporter to 7.5 million bpd, the energy ministry said in a statement cited by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Neighbouring Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled al-Fadhel said separately that his country would cut an additional 80,000 bpd to support the Saudi initiative.

“Kuwait supports the efforts of Saudi Arabia to restore balance to the oil market,” Fadhel said in a statement on Kuwait News Agency.

An attendant refills a car at a petrol station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Also declaring support for Saudi Arabia was its ally, the United Arab Emirates, which announced a reduction of 100,000 bpd from June.

Opec and its allies in the OPEC+ group agreed last month to cut production by a record 9.7 million bpd while other producers pledged to reduce their output by around 3.7 million bpd.