Gabon oil production in 2021 is to drop by over 10,000 barrels per day, according to the country’s budget bill that is currently under review.

The drop is credited to adherence to the OPEC+ production cuts. The average price per barrel of oil is expected to drop from $57 to $41. The 2021 budget bill for the country provides that oil production over the next fiscal year will be 10.5 million tonnes (nearly 210,000 bpd).

In 2019, oil production was around 220,000 bpd, but the official production figures of 2020 are yet to be made public though it is expected to be lower due to the OPEC+ cut deal which Gabon is a participating country.

According to the International Energy Agency, OPEC+ improved their support rate for oil cuts in September from 98% in August to 103%. Gabon and Congo remain laggards in the cut deal and it is estimated that both countries can only reach full compliance with the deal from next year.

Gabon anticipates a barrel price of $42 for 2021 while the 2020 finance law puts the average price for a barrel to be 57 dollars. The IMF puts the share of oil in the country’s GDP at 38.5%.

There has been a decline in oil production rate in Gabon for several years due to the maturity of several fields and insufficient investments to renew production bases.