LONDON: Opec’s oil supply jumped to its highest in almost two years in September, a survey found, due to further recovery in Libya and higher output from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf producers in the face of sub-$100 per barrel oil prices.
The lack of any cutbacks underlines the relaxed view of Opec’s core Gulf members to oil’s slide from $115 in June to below $97 on Tuesday — a level they can tolerate, but which puts budgets in producers such as Iran and non-member Russia under pressure.
Supply from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries averaged 30.96 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, up from 30.15 million bpd in August, according to the survey based on shipping data and information from sources at oil companies, Opec and consultants.
“Libya has increased production massively and if you look forward, Opec is producing more than the (forecast) demand for Opec crude in 2015,” said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. “This puts pressure on Opec ahead of their next meeting.”
Opec pumps a third of the world’s oil and meets next in November. This month, the largest increase has come from Libya, where supply is up by 280,000 bpd despite conflict. Iraq, Nigeria, Angola and Saudi Arabia also boosted output.
This month’s output is Opec’s highest since November 2012 when it pumped 31.06 million bpd, according to surveys. Involuntary outages, such as in Libya, kept output below Opec’s nominal 30 million bpd target in earlier months of the year.
Iraq, like Libya, has also managed to increase supplies despite fighting in the country. Oil output rebounded due to higher exports from Iraq’s southern terminals and increased output from fields in Kurdistan.
Nigerian output, disrupted in earlier months of the year, has climbed in September, and another increase has come from Angola where CLOV, a new crude stream operated by Total , is ramping up exports. Reuters
NEW YORK: World oil prices tumbled to their lowest in more than two years yesterday, with US crude posting its biggest daily decline since 2012 as expiring October gasoline futures tumbled 4.5 percent and the US dollar rose.
New York RBOB gasoline for October delivery, which expires at the end of the day, reversed more than half of its gains from a two-week rally that traders had attributed to a short squeeze on local supplies. That selloff contributed to a more than $3 slump in US crude and deepened losses in European benchmark Brent, both of which tumbled abruptly at midday. Brent was set for its biggest quarterly fall in two years, down 16 percent.
Brent for November delivery fell $2.82 to $94.38 a barrel by 1628 GMT. US crude dropped $3.26 to $91.31 a barrel. During the session, Brent’s premium over US oil dipped to the narrowest in 13 months, touching $2.52 a barrel. The premium later grew back to more than $3 a barrel. Many brokers said oil prices were also pressured by the US dollar’s surge to a four-year high against a basket of currencies, and a two-year high against the euro. “The dollar strength is pressuring oil across the board,” said Andy Lebow, senior vice president at Jefferies Bache in New York. Reuters
