Crude oil production worldwide fell to a seven-month low in January, dragged down by lower output in major producers Canada, Iraq, Russia, and Bahrain, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.

Global oil production declined by 365,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, which was the third consecutive month of falling output, showed the JODI data shared by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum (IEF).

A month after the G7 price cap and the EU embargo on seaborne Russian crude imports took effect, crude oil production in Russia was down by 47,000 bpd to 9.98 million bpd in January. This was the lowest Russian output in three months and 277,000 bpd below the levels from January 2022, according to the JODI data.

Global consumption dropped seasonally in January and was only slightly higher compared to January 2022, the data showed, but it did not include January 2023 data for China.

‘StBeijing reports January and February economic, oil consumption, and other data together to avoid major comparison distortions due to the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, which fell in late January this year.

Global inventories of crude and oil products increased by 101.9 million barrels to an 11-month high. Yet, stocks remained 304 million barrels below the five-year average, according to the JODI data.

In natural gas, global demand declined in January, an unusual move for a winter month in the northern hemisphere. Natural gas consumption in the EU and the UK combined slumped to a five-year seasonal low in January, the data showed.

Reduced industrial and household consumption and milder weather this winter have helped Europe avoid a gas shortage crisis, which many had feared ahead of the 2022/2023 heating season.

The lower demand was shown in the total gas inventories, which fell by 24.4 bcm month-on-month in January, less than the seasonal average draw of 43 bcm, per JODI’s data.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com