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Platts Survey: OPEC Oil Output Rises to 28.89 Million Barrels per day in October

Posted on: Thursday, 12 November 2009, 09:51 CST

LONDON, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts - The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil production averaged 28.89 million barrels per day (b/d) in October, up 60,000 b/d from September's 28.83 million b/d, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry sources and analysts showed November 12.

"OPEC appears to have tied its output policy more or less directly to developments in the world economy. While actual output has been increasing steadily, the group seems reluctant to legitimize its overproduction by raising official quotas given that consumer stocks are at historically high levels and its own less than optimistic view of fundamentals," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil.

"At the same time, possibly for fear of putting pressure on the nascent economic recovery, OPEC has refrained from encouraging members to improve their levels of discipline by reining in overproduction towards the target level. Any dramatic movement in the oil price could force its hand, but for the time being OPEC seems able and happy enough to ignore the big gap between nominal and actual output," added Kingston.

Excluding Iraq, which does not participate in OPEC output agreements, production from the 11 members bound by quotas (OPEC-11) rose by 70,000 b/d to 26.4 million b/d in October from 26.33 million b/d in September.

Increases totalling 90,000 b/d from Angola, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were partly offset by decreases from Iran, Libya and Iraq of 30,000 b/d.

The latest estimates leave the OPEC-11 overproducing their 24.845 million b/d output target by nearly 1.56 million b/d.

Compliance with the 4.2 million b/d of cuts agreed late last year has been declining since April alongside a broad firming of oil prices. Having peaked at close to 82% in March, compliance fell to just under 63% in October.

In September, OPEC rolled over its official output target for the third time this year, saying that although the outlook for fundamentals was gloomy, it did not want to take any action on production that might endanger global economic recovery.

Latest soundings from OPEC officials suggest an ongoing reluctance to increase official targets despite the continuing rise in actual output. UAE oil minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli was quoted last weekend as saying that raising official targets was not on OPEC's agenda for the December 22 meeting in Luanda, Angola.

For production numbers by country, view this table.

For other oil, energy and related information, visit Platts online at www.platts.com.

About Platts: Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. An independent provider, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, emissions, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical, shipping, and metals markets from 17 offices worldwide. Platts' real-time news, pricing, analytical services and conferences help markets operate with transparency and efficiency. Traders, risk managers, analysts, and industry leaders depend upon Platts to help them make better trading and investment decisions. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, Capital IQ, J.D. Power and Associates, McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2008 were $6.4 billion. Additional information is available at www.mcgraw-hill.com.

SOURCE Platts

Source: PR Newswire

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