Some OPEC members bucking trend by Daniel J. Graeber London (UPI) Feb 8, 2017
Members of OPEC exempt from a production agreement, and those producers who wanted such a break, are bucking rival trends, an industry survey finds. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to a collective production ceiling of 32.5 million barrels per day as of January. Some industry analysts continue to speculate over the level of compliance, however. Iraq, one of OPEC's larger contributors, produced around 4.48 million barrels of oil per day on average in January, a survey from S&P Global Platts found. The country lobbied for an exemption from the OPEC agreement, citing a need to keep the revenue stream flowing as it battled against the Islamic State terrorist group. Baghdad acquiesced, however, to a ceiling of 4.35 million bpd, though Platts said Iraq's production in January was a decline of 150,000 bpd from the previous month. Libya and Nigeria each received exemptions because of lingering civil conflicts. Platts found that both of those countries were on the road to recovery, with Libya in particular making strides. Austrian energy company OMV said last week that the improved political and security situation there meant it was able to start production at two of the country's larger oil fields. For Nigeria, Platts found production was moving closer to its legacy rate despite recent attacks on oil infrastructure in the Niger Delta. "The survey shows that several OPEC countries covered by the agreement still need to make some progress in lowering output to their allocations," Platts reported. The group nevertheless found in a separate report this week that compliance with the agreement was around 90 percent so far. Saudi Arabia is the main contributor to overall declines with its January production falling just shy of 10 million bpd. That's the first month in nearly two years that Saudi oil production dropped by 10 million bpd. Despite the early number-crunching, Herman Wang, an OPEC specialist at Platts, notes it's a six-month agreement and the ink so far is barely dry. "It'll take a few more months of monitoring to know whether the discipline that OPEC is displaying will hold," he said in an emailed statement.
Related Links All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |