OPEC Output Suffers Record Plunge as Iran War Throttles Exports

Crude oil storage tanks at the Juaymah Tank Farm at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery.

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

OPEC crude production registered a record plunge last month as conflict in the Middle East throttled exports from key members, the group’s data showed.

Output from the organization collapsed by 7.88 million barrels a day to 20.79 million a day in March, driven by losses in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to a monthly report from its secretariat seen by Bloomberg News. It’s the steepest drop in data going back to the 1980s.