Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 32.25 mb/d Crude Oil in January, up 220,000 b/d
(Full text of this release can be found at http://www.asianetnews.net)
London (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The 13 members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 32.25 million (m) barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in January, or a 220,000 b/d increase from December's rate of 32.03 million b/d, a Platts (http://www.platts.com/) survey of OPEC and oil industry officials showed February 14.
The biggest single increase came from Saudi Arabia, which boosted volumes to 9.2 million b/d in January from 9.02 million b/d in December. The UAE boosted production to 2.59 million b/d from 2.5 million b/d in December after a field maintenance program reduced output to 2.15 million b/d in November. Other smaller increases came from Angola, Iran and Kuwait.
"OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna earlier this month opted to leave production targets unchanged, ignoring pleas from major consuming countries for more oil," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil. "Despite this, however, January production was nearly 290,000 b/d higher than the official target. But the big part of this increase came from Saudi Arabia, which supports the view that virtually all of OPEC's spare capacity lies within one country."
Kingston says the ability to repeat these numbers in February may be tested by new politically-driven problems in Nigeria. Platts estimates that the amount of oil offline in that country has climbed a few hundred thousand barrels per day and now stands at one million b/d.
Excluding Iraq, the 12 members bound by output agreements produced an average 29.96 million b/d in January, up 230,000 b d from December's 29.73 million b/d and 287,000 b/d in excess of their 29.673 million b/d target.
Output increases totaling 340,000 b/d were partly offset by 120,000 b/d of decreases.
Nigerian production slipped after Shell was forced to declare force majeure on crude shipments from its Forcados export terminal following a pipeline attack.
Iraqi volumes were marginally lower, despite higher exports, after fires at two refineries reduced the volume of crude used domestically. Indonesian production was also slightly lower than December levels.
OPEC's 29.673 million b/d output target incorporates allocations, agreed at a December meeting in Abu Dhabi, of 1.9 million b/d for Angola, which joined the group in January 2007, and 520,000 b/d for Ecuador, which rejoined in November after leaving in the early 1990s.
At its most recent meeting, on February 1, ministers decided to leave output targets unchanged and to review the situation on March 5.
For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts Guide to OPEC" at http://www.opec.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 nearly a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. From 14 offices worldwide, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, emissions, petrochemical and metals markets. 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, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion.
Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
SOURCE Platts
CONTACT: Kathleen Tanzy
+1-212-904-2860
Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com;
Europe, Shiona Ramage
+44207-1766153
Asia, Casey Yew
+65-653-06552
Web site: http://www.platts.com
http://www.opec.platts.com
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com
London (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - The 13 members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 32.25 million (m) barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in January, or a 220,000 b/d increase from December's rate of 32.03 million b/d, a Platts (http://www.platts.com/) survey of OPEC and oil industry officials showed February 14.The biggest single increase came from Saudi Arabia, which boosted volumes to 9.2 million b/d in January from 9.02 million b/d in December. The UAE boosted production to 2.59 million b/d from 2.5 million b/d in December after a field maintenance program reduced output to 2.15 million b/d in November. Other smaller increases came from Angola, Iran and Kuwait.
"OPEC ministers meeting in Vienna earlier this month opted to leave production targets unchanged, ignoring pleas from major consuming countries for more oil," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil. "Despite this, however, January production was nearly 290,000 b/d higher than the official target. But the big part of this increase came from Saudi Arabia, which supports the view that virtually all of OPEC's spare capacity lies within one country."
Kingston says the ability to repeat these numbers in February may be tested by new politically-driven problems in Nigeria. Platts estimates that the amount of oil offline in that country has climbed a few hundred thousand barrels per day and now stands at one million b/d.
Excluding Iraq, the 12 members bound by output agreements produced an average 29.96 million b/d in January, up 230,000 b d from December's 29.73 million b/d and 287,000 b/d in excess of their 29.673 million b/d target.
Output increases totaling 340,000 b/d were partly offset by 120,000 b/d of decreases.
Nigerian production slipped after Shell was forced to declare force majeure on crude shipments from its Forcados export terminal following a pipeline attack.
Iraqi volumes were marginally lower, despite higher exports, after fires at two refineries reduced the volume of crude used domestically. Indonesian production was also slightly lower than December levels.
OPEC's 29.673 million b/d output target incorporates allocations, agreed at a December meeting in Abu Dhabi, of 1.9 million b/d for Angola, which joined the group in January 2007, and 520,000 b/d for Ecuador, which rejoined in November after leaving in the early 1990s.
At its most recent meeting, on February 1, ministers decided to leave output targets unchanged and to review the situation on March 5.
For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts Guide to OPEC" at http://www.opec.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 nearly a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. From 14 offices worldwide, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, emissions, petrochemical and metals markets. 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, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion.
Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.
SOURCE Platts
CONTACT: Kathleen Tanzy
+1-212-904-2860
Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com;
Europe, Shiona Ramage
+44207-1766153
Asia, Casey Yew
+65-653-06552
Web site: http://www.platts.com
http://www.opec.platts.com
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com
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