RIYADH — Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy has directed the state oil company to cut its crude oil production for the upcoming month of June by an extra voluntary amount of 1 million barrels per day, on top of a reduction already committed by the Kingdom as part of the OPEC+ deal reached on April 12, 2020, Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday quoting a ministry official as saying. This brings the total production cut that will be carried out by the Kingdom, to around 4.8 million barrels per day, from the April production level. Therefore, the Kingdom's production for June, after both its targeted and voluntary cuts, will be 7.492 million barrels per day," according to the report. "The ministry has also directed Aramco to reduce its production in May from its quota level of 8.492 million bpd "in consent with its customers," the official said. "The Kingdom aims through this additional cut to encourage OPEC+ participants, as well as other producing countries, to comply with the production cuts they have committed to, and to provide additional voluntary cuts, in an effort to support the stability of global oil markets," the official emphasized. Meanwhile the United Arab Emirates on Monday also decided to cut its oil output voluntarily by 100,000 barrels per day in June in a show of solidarity with Saudi Arabia, its closest friend and ally. Announcing the decision, UAE's Minister of Energy and Industry Suhail Bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei said: ''While the UAE successfully achieved production of over 4 million barrels a day in early April, it has subsequently reduced its production in line with the OPEC+ agreement.'' ''In support of efforts led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to further restore stability to energy markets, the UAE has committed to undertake an additional voluntary cut of 100,000 barrels per day in the month of June,'' he added.
