London, April 14 -- OPEC crude production registered a record plunge last month as conflict in the Middle East throttled exports from key members, the group's data showed. Output from the organisation collapsed by 7.88 million barrels a day to 20.79 million a day in March, driven by losses in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, according to a monthly report from its secretariat seen by Bloomberg News. It's the steepest drop in data going back to the 1980s. The conflict between a US-Israeli alliance and Iran has shuttered the Persian Gulf's vital Strait of Hormuz waterway for six weeks, forcing regional producers to shut in output. It has sent prices for products like jet fuel, diesel and gasoline soaring, threatening th...