The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ crude production dipped for a second consecutive month in January as a drop in exports from Nigeria and Iran affected crude outputs.

According to a report by Reuters on Wednesday, the development counteracted a recovery in the United Arab Emirates, where field maintenance had limited production in December.

The report noted that oil-exporting countries pumped 26.53 million barrels per day last month, representing a reduction of 50,000 bpd from the amount produced in December 2024.

The revised total analysing a survey disclosed that Nigeria and Iran posted the largest drops.

The modest decline in output came as the wider OPEC group is keeping production cuts in place until the end of March due to global demand concerns and rising output outside the group.

OPEC on Monday decided to stick with its plan to start raising output in April.

Specifically, the report said Nigerian production slipped by 60,000 bpd, the survey found, reflecting lower exports, although domestic usage is increasing as the Dangote refinery ramps up.

This means the government produced 1.42m barrels from 1.484m barrels in December.

Our correspondent reports that Nigeria is still struggling to meet its OPEC quota of 1.5 Mbps and is also making efforts to raise production to about two Mbps.

Also, Iran’s output, which hit the highest since 2018 last year despite U.S. sanctions, fell by 60,000 bpd, the survey found. It may soon be curbed by tighter sanctions from the administration of the U.S.

OPEC’s biggest rise, of 90,000 bpd, came from the UAE, the survey found.

A source said partial field maintenance continued in January, having started in December.

While the survey indicates the UAE and Iraq are pumping below their targets, as December data provided by OPEC’s secondary sources puts them not far above, other estimates, such as those of the International Energy Agency, suggest they are pumping significantly more.

Libya’s output rose by 40,000 bpd, continuing a recovery after the resolution of a dispute over control of the central bank that had led to production cuts.

The country is exempted from OPEC agreements to limit output.