OPEC’s largest producer and de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, told the cartel that its December crude oil production dropped by nearly 300,000 bpd from November to 9.594 million bpd, a much steeper decline than OPEC’s secondary-sources estimate of an 111,000-bpd fall, the organization’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) showed on Wednesday. Over the past few months, after the mid-September attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure , OPEC’s biggest producer has directly reported to OPEC significantly different production numbers than OPEC’s secondary source figures. In the aftermath of the attacks on its oil, Saudi Arabia was busy reassuring the oil market and its customers that it can and will quickly ramp up production to pre-attack levels and will leave no customer wanting for Saudi crude. For October, for example, Saudi Arabia’s direct communication to OPEC showed production at 10.303 million bpd, while OPEC’s secondary sources pinned the Saudi production at 10.0 […]