Baghdad hiked output by 100,000 bpd to a post-Gulf War record of 2.64 million bpd, the Paris based agency said in its Monthly Oil Market report.

Output by the 10 OPEC producers excluding Iraq involved in production cutting agreements fell by 40,000 bpd to 25.25 million bpd, representing 79 percent compliance with pledged cutbacks. That level of adherence is calculated using a revised, higher baseline figure for Iranian supply reductions, it said. Under the previous lower Iranian baseline, compliance by the OPEC 10 stood at 67 percent. Output was sharply lower in Iran at 3.68 million bpd, which returned to normal levels after a surge in February. This more than offset gains from all other OPEC members except Venezuela, which declined by 40,000 bpd. The IEA pegged the call on OPEC crude plus stock change for 1999 at 27.2million bpd, an increase of 100,000 bpd.

More than half the revision was accounted for by lower projected crude production by Mexico as a result of a promise it made to cut crude exports by 125,000 bpd as part of a price rescue pact with the OPEC 10 and some other non-OPEC producers. The IEA revised lower its forecast non-OPEC supply in 1999 by 100,000 bpd, saying output was expected to fall by 30,000 bpd to 44.57 million bpd. In March non-OPEC output fell 210,000 bpd to an average 44.48 million bpd. Production from the member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fell by 105,000 bpd, including a 40,000 bpd fall in the United States.y