OPEC Oil Production Rose in May; Saudis Pumped Most Since 2008
OPEC crude production rose in May as Saudi Arabia, the group’s biggest exporter, pumped the most since 2008, according to the group’s Vienna-based secretariat.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates proposed a 1.5 million barrel-a-day increase in output targets at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries June 8 meeting in Vienna. The group failed to reach an accord after the plan was opposed by Libya, Angola, Ecuador, Algeria, Iran and Venezuela, Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi said.
Daily production from the 11 OPEC members that are bound by quotas was 26.32 million barrels a day last month, the group said today in its monthly oil market report. That’s up from 26.17 million in April, OPEC said. The group OPEC cites secondary sources for its data.
Output from Saudi Arabia rose to 8.86 million last month, compared with 8.8 million in April. The group’s total supply, including Iraq, was at 28.97 million barrels a day in May versus 28.8 million the previous month, OPEC said.
“The increase came mainly from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Angola, Venezuela and Iraq while crude production from Libya experienced a decline,” OPEC said.
OPEC’s compliance with record production cuts fell to 65 percent last month compared with 68 percent in April, according to Bloomberg calculations. Compliance percentages are based on combined output from the 11 members that committed to reduce from a base rate in September 2008 of 29.045 million barrels.
Libyan supplies fell to 169,000 barrels a day last month as clashes between forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi and anti- government rebels halted output. That compares with an average 1.56 million last year, according to the report.
The producer group, provider of about 40 percent of the world’s crude, announced its biggest-ever supply cuts in late 2008 amid a collapse in global demand. The decision capped production at 24.845 million barrels a day for all members except Iraq, which is exempt from the quota system.
OPEC’s members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lananh Nguyen in London at lnguyen35@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss on sev@bloomberg.net
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