North American oil companies have slashed production faster than skeptical OPEC officials and industry analysts expected, on course to cut roughly 1.7 million barrels per day by the end of June, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. state and company data.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia struck a deal last month to contain a worsening supply glut as the coronavirus pandemic cratered global fuel demand by about 30%, sending prices plunging.
The group, known as OPEC+, agreed to cut output by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for May and June. They also pushed for non-OPEC+ members, including North American countries, to contribute another 10 million in output cuts, for total cuts of about 20% of world supply.
During talks last month, some OPEC members raised concerns that nations like the United States and Canada couldn’t muster that magnitude of cuts from private companies without state mandates․