Global crude supply disrupted by the war with Iran has returned to close to pre-war levels, according to OPEC’s latest monthly report, released on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, raised crude production to 10.563 million barrels per day in October — an increase of more than two million bpd on September and the highest level since the United States and Israel began strikes on Iran in February, Al Jazeera reported. In the month before the war, Saudi output stood at 10.882 million bpd.
Rising Saudi and Russian production lifted total OPEC+ output to 41.23 million bpd in October, up about 2.04 million bpd from September. That is roughly 97 percent of the 42.72 million bpd the group produced in February. Hiru News carried the same figures.
What drove the recovery
Russian output increased after US President Donald Trump lifted sanctions on Russia’s energy sector and announced an energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in mid-October.
The conflict had closed off roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies transiting the Strait of Hormuz, pushing international prices and inflation higher. Gulf producers have since restored exports using workarounds including ship-to-ship transfers. The United Arab Emirates regained its position as the top supplier — a 49 percent share in September — helped partly by those transfers and by its pipeline to Fujairah, which lies outside the strait.
OPEC’s production figures are based on secondary sources rather than direct government reporting.
The recovery matters for Sri Lanka, where fuel import costs feed directly into the pricing formula. LankaNewz has reported on the parliamentary push for an independent fuel pricing regulator and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s first-half profit.
Not reported: neither filing gives an October price level, nor says whether the recovery in supply has yet fed through to pump prices in importing countries.
