• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

OPEC Output Up 240,000 Barrels Per Day in February, According to Platts

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 15:00 CST

LONDON, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A recovery in Iraqi volumes boosted OPEC production by 240,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 29.92 million b/d in February from 29.68 million b/d in January, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials showed March.

Excluding Iraq, however, output from the ten members with quotas dipped by 20,000 b/d to 28.13 million b/d over the month.

Production increases from four countries-Iraq, Libya, Saudi Arabia and the UAE-totaling 310,000 b/d were partially offset by reductions of 40,000 b/d and 30,000 b/d from Iran and Nigeria.

The biggest single increase came from Iraq, whose overall supply rose to 1.79 million b/d from 1.53 million b/d in January.

"Iraq seems to be the new swing producer in OPEC, but this is not necessarily a good thing for consumers," said John Kingston, global director of oil at Platts. "While Iraq's geological upside is enormous, the infrastructure of the industry remains threadbare, and it is obviously an easy target for the insurgency. At this point, it's difficult to imagine a jump of several hundred thousand barrels per day of output, but it's not that difficult to imagine a decline of that magnitude."

Continuing ethnic unrest in the Niger Delta continued to take its toll on Nigerian supply, although rising output from the deepwater Bonga field helped to offset production losses.

The latest estimates show the OPEC-10 producing just 130,000 b/d in excess of their 28 million b/d output ceiling, which the group agreed to maintain at talks in Vienna last week. A glance at individual production levels, however, shows that while several members are producing comfortably above their quotas, Indonesia, Iran and Venezuela are under-producing their official limits to the combined tune of around 1.4 million b/d.

Indonesia, whose crude production is in decline, and Venezuela, whose oil industry has not recovered fully after the oil workers' strike in the winter of 2002-2003, have been under-producing for some time.

Iran, with a high depletion rate in its producing fields and experiencing great difficultly in selling Soroush/Nowrouz crude, has not managed to produce its 4.11 million b/d quota since it came into effect in July 2005.

Country-by-country breakdown of production with figures in millions of b/d:

Country Feb 06 Jan 06 Dec 05 Nov 05 Oct 05 Quota Algeria 1.370 1.370 1.370 1.370 1.360 0.894 Indonesia 0.920 0.920 0.930 0.930 0.930 1.451 Iran 3.860 3.900 3.930 3.950 3.950 4.110 Iraq 1.790 1.530 1.550 1.700 1.800 N/A Kuwait 2.540 2.540 2.540 2.550 2.550 2.247 Libya 1.670 1.660 1.660 1.660 1.650 1.500 Nigeria 2.370 2.400 2.420 2.450 2.450 2.306 Qatar 0.800 0.800 0.800 0.800 0.800 0.726 Saudi Arabia 9.500 9.480 9.500 9.550 9.500 9.099 UAE 2.500 2.480 2.500 2.490 2.480 2.444 Venezuela 2.600 2.600 2.600 2.600 2.600 3.223 Total 29.920 29.680 29.800 30.050 30.070 N/A OPEC 10 (excluding Iraq) 28.130 28.150 28.250 28.350 28.270 28.000

For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts Guide to OPEC" at http://www.platts.com/Oil/Resources/News%20Features/opec/index.xml

Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies , is the world leader in providing energy information. For nearly a century, Platts has helped to enable ever-changing global energy markets enhance their performance through such offerings as independent industry news and price benchmarks. From 15 offices worldwide, Platts covers the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, petrochemical and metals markets. Additional information on Platts real-time news and price assessment services, publications, databases, geospatial tools, conferences, magazines, research and analytical services and energy financial services is available at http://www.platts.com/.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies 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, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 290 offices in 38 countries. Sales in 2005 were $6.0 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Platts

CONTACT: Jim KeenerPlatts-US+1 (720) 548-5624james_keener@platts.comKaren ClealePlatts-UK+ 44 (0) 207 176 6153karen_cleale@platts.com

Web site: http://www.platts.com/http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category