Russia, which is not a member of OPEC but which did sign the deal to cut production, also<br />lowered its output in line with promises, according to the International Energy Agency.<br />That played havoc with the government budgets of major oil producers, pushing even Saudi Arabia — OPEC’s biggest member by oil output — to borrow large sums in financial markets<br />and to risk antagonizing its citizens by raising energy prices and cutting government salaries.<br />When OPEC and other major oil exporters agreed late last year to limit production as<br />a way to bolster teetering prices, many saw it as a shaky deal by a spent force.<br />The estimates released by OPEC on Monday showed that its members made more than 90<br />percent of the agreed cuts in January, the first month that the deal was in force.<br />“But the deal may unravel if those cuts are just offset by strong non-OPEC production<br />growth in places like the U. S., Canada and Brazil that keeps prices low<br />The United States, where production fell by 1 million barrels per day between April 2015 and September 2016, is now raising output again.<br />“Saudi Arabia and other producer countries are feeling the pain of low oil prices<br />and thus will likely stay the course if cuts prop up prices,” said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.<br />Oil Producers Comply With OPEC Deal to Cut Output, but for How Long?
