OPEC encourages members to meet production-cut pledges amid Saudi output uncertainty

OPEC is encouraging suppliers to meet their production paring pledges of late 2016 to ease the global glut, as uncertainty lingers over exactly how much Saudi Arabia has reduced its outflow.

OPEC said it was 92% compliant with its November 2016 promise to lower oil output by 1.2m barrels a day, said Kuwait's Oil Minister, Essam Al-Marzooq, in comments reported by Bloomberg.

The group's output fell 890,200 barrels a day, on the month, to 32.139m in January.

Non-open producers were complying at a lesser rater of more than 50%, the news agency reported.

"At the time when producers signed the deal, the initial commitments were to gradually increase cuts until April and May, so we were expecting to see some producers not fulfilling the 100 percent cuts," Al-Marzooq told reporters in Kuwait City.

"We understand the circumstances, and in February we are talking to non-OPEC producers to raise their cuts according to their commitments."

Late last year, OPEC pledged to reverse its strategy of pumping without limits to defend market share against increased supplies, notably from oil from US shale deposits.

At about 13:47 GMT, West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.76% to $53.45 a barrel, and Brent was down 0.9% to $56.19 a barrel.

Meantime, Saudi Arabia told OPEC that the kingdom had lowered production by 717,600 barrels a day in January to 9.748m barrels a day.

However, OPEC's data, which was compiled from external sources, suggested Saudi made a smaller 496,000 barrel-a-day cut, although in line with last year's supply pledge.

Iraq, Venezuela and Iran told OPEC they had pumped more than allowed by the accord.

In November last year, OPEC agreed to lower output to 32.5m barrels a day, including roughly 750,000 barrels a day from Indonesia, which had subsequently suspended its cartel membership.