On Sunday, several oil exporting countries decided to reduce their oil production from the month of May until the year’s end, reported news agency AFP.

Among these nations is Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, which aims to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia produced 9.1 million barrels of oil per day, according to the website of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The oil exporting countries that have decided to lower their output are either members of OPEC or a part of OPEC+, a collaboration between OPEC and oil nations that are not part of the organization.

According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry informs that the cut in production is meant to stabilize the oil market.

The UAE and Kuwait are also cutting down on production by 144,000 and 128,000 barrels per day, respectively.

The UAE’s production was at 2.7 million barrels per day in 2021, while Kuwait produced 2.4 million.

Iraq plans to reduce its output by 211,000 barrels per day, according to AFP. The country produced 4 million barrels of oil every day in 2021.

Furthermore, Oman, Algeria and Kazakhstan will reduce their output – to a smaller extent, though.

On Sunday, Russia announced that it plans to extend its reduction in oil production, which was launched in March as a response to Western sanctions.

Russia’s cut in production amounts to 500,000 barrels per day, and the extension runs until the end of 2023.

In January 2023, Russia produced 10.9 million barrels per day, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Norwegian media NRK reports that Western leaders have visited several oil producing countries during the war in Ukraine to convince them to increase their output.

Overall, the oil exporting nations plan to lower their output by 1.15 million barrels per day.