(Bloomberg) -- Iraqi oil production was suspended from two fields in the country’s south with a combined capacity of 480,000 barrels-a-day.

The shutdowns curtail the ability of OPEC’s second-largest producer to pump oil after several member nations undershot their targets in recent months. That’s hampered the group’s attempts to ramp up production halted during the pandemic, and fanned the surge in global prices.

Thiqar Oil Co. said it halted work at the Nasiriya field because of protests that prevented its staff from reaching the site on Saturday. The field is able to produce as much as 80,000 barrels of crude daily.

The West Qurna-2 field stopped producing on Feb. 21 for an upgrade that will increase its capacity. The field is scheduled to resume pumping on March 14, though the companies that run it are trying to restart output sooner. West Qurna-2 can produce as much as 400,000 barrels-a-day currently, which will be increased by 50,000 barrels through the upgrade.

Iraq produced slightly less than the 4.3 million barrels-a-day it was allowed to pump in January. This was because of adverse weather at the country’s oil exporting ports last month and the country should meet its February quota, Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar said earlier in the week. 

Iraq has repeatedly said it is able to produce as much as 5 million barrels-a-day, and the operators of Nasiriya and West Qurna-2 have said nearby fields will be able to pump extra to compensate for the temporarily-unavailable capacity. 

But months of under-production by several key members of the OPEC+ alliance has shone a spotlight on laggard countries and called into question the ability of the group to meet its overall production objectives.

Oil prices surged after Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday, raising the pressure on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners -- which include Russia -- to keep global oil markets in check when they meet virtually on March 2 to decide on output limits for April.

See also Feb. 21 story: OPEC Delegates See Another Small Supply Boost Despite Pressure

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.