LONDON, January 15 /PRNewswire/ --
The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produced an average 32.03 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in December, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials January 14. This is up from November's rate of 31.65 million b/d.
Production from OPEC's ten members bound by crude output agreements averaged 27.43 million b/d in December, the survey showed. This is 460,000 b/d more than in November and 177,000 b/d higher than the group's 27.253 million b/d target which came into effect at the beginning of November.
"The increase in supply is certainly welcome to this market," said John Kingston, Platts Global Director of Oil. "It appears the group's on track to meet its January target, which is nearly 29.7 million barrels per day for 11 of the members, excluding Iraq."
The bulk of the December output increase was due to higher production from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as key maintenance programs were brought to a close. UAE production was estimated at 2.5 million b/d, 350,000 b/d higher than November's 2.15 million b/d. Smaller increases of between 10,000 b/d and 40,000 b/d came from Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia. The OPEC 10 excludes Iraq and new members Angola and Ecuador.
Iraqi production was estimated at 2.3 million b/d, some 100,000 b/d lower than in November. (Earlier this month, Iraqi oil ministry data obtained by Platts showed total Iraqi output at 2.475 million b/d in December, despite a sharp fall in exports from November levels. But Platts' methodology for calculating output differs from that of the Iraqi government). Angolan production edged up from 1.78 million b/d to 1.8 million b/d. Ecuador, which left OPEC in the early 1990s but resumed its membership in mid-November, produced an estimated 500,000 b/d.
When OPEC met in Abu Dhabi in December it left the OPEC-10 target of 27.253 million b/d unchanged but allocated targets of 1.9 million b/d and 520,000 b/d to Angola and Ecuador from the beginning of January. OPEC's production target rose to 29.673 million b/d on January 1, 2008. Iraq does not participate in OPEC output agreements because it is in process of rebuilding its oil industry after years of United Nations sanctions followed by a US-led war.
OPEC ministers will meet in Vienna on February 1. The beginning of this year saw US light crude prices climb above US$100/barrel, but several top OPEC officials have said the high prices have less to do with any shortage of crude than to do with non-fundamental factors such as geopolitics and speculative activity in futures markets.
Country December November October September Nov 1 target
Algeria 1.390 1.390 1.380 1.360 1.357
Indonesia 0.840 0.830 0.830 0.830 0.865
Iran 3.970 3.950 3.900 3.880 3.817
Kuwait 2.540 2.500 2.450 2.420 2.531
Libya 1.740 1.720 1.710 1.700 1.712
Nigeria 2.200 2.200 2.190 2.180 2.163
Qatar 0.830 0.830 0.820 0.810 0.828
Saudi Arabia 9.020 9.000 8.800 8.700 8.943
UAE 2.500 2.150 2.600 2.590 2.567
Venezuela 2.400 2.400 2.400 2.400 2.470
OPEC-10 27.430 26.970 27.080 26.870 27.253
Angola(i) 1.800 1.780 1.750 1.720 N/A
Iraq 2.300 2.400 2.280 2.170 N/A
OPEC-10+
Angola, Iraq 31.530 31.150 31.110 30.760 N/A
Ecuador(ii) 0.500 .500 N/A N/A N/A
Total 32.03 31.650 N/A N/A N/A
(i) Angola joined OPEC on January 1, 2007. An output allocation of 1.9
million b/d assigned at OPEC's December 5 meeting in Abu Dhabi came
into effect on January 1.
(ii) Ecuador resumed its OPEC membership in November. An output
allocation of 520,000 b/d came into effect on January 1.
For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts Guide to OPEC" at www.opec.platts.com.
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