The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced on 12 December that its crude production dropped by 11,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November. In a monthly report, OPEC said that last month’s production of crude fell to 32.965 million bpd, compared to 32.976 million bpd in October. During the same month, Saudi Arabia’s production jumped to 377,000 bpd, pumping at a record rate of 11.016 million bpd. The increase in Saudi Arabia’s output was offset by a 380,000 bpd plunge in Iran’s production, as the Islamic nation grapples with US sanctions that came in to effect on 5 November. Iran’s oil output stood at 2.954 million bpd last month, down from 3.333 million bpd in October. The re-imposed US sanctions against Iran were reported to have targeted the oil, energy, gas sectors and industries. On Friday 7 December, OPEC and its allies, including Russia agreed to cut crude supplies next year for a period of six months. They pledged to lower output by 1.2 million bpd. However, Qatar announced that it plan to leave the alliance early next year.