The 10 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members’ crude output stayed unchanged in April at 31.85 million barrels per day compared to March, The New Diplomat had gathered from the S&P Global Platts survey released last week.
OPEC is still showing high compliance with its production cut agreement, as increases in Angola and Nigeria were offset by declines from Libya and Iraq.
“OPEC members can go into their May 25 meeting in Vienna feeling good about their compliance levels. Even countries, like Iraq and the UAE, which have come in for some criticism over their production levels, moved closer to compliance in April.
“But an extension to the production cut agreement is far from a done deal, with many details to be negotiated, including cut levels, exemptions and duration, amid an increasingly skeptical market. OPEC still has much to discuss,” said Herman Wang, OPEC Specialist, S&P Global Platts.
Thus, the April production figures in the S&P Global Platts survey and the five other secondary sources used by OPEC to monitor output will be some of the final data points that the organization considers at its meeting.
OPEC’s collective April output was some 80,000 b/d above its stated ceiling of 32.5 million b/d, when Indonesia, which typically produces about 730,000 b/d, is added in. Indonesia suspended its OPEC membership in November and is not included in the S&P Global Platts survey estimates for 2017.
OPEC’s largest producer Saudi Arabia averaged 9.97 million b/d in April, according to the survey, below its quota under the deal of 10.058 million b/d. The kingdom is seen as a driver of OPEC’s production cut deal, with energy minister Khalid al-Falih saying at a conference in Abu Dhabi last month that there appeared to be a growing consensus on a need to extend the cuts, as global inventories remain stubbornly high.
Iraq, which has faced criticism for not fully complying with its required cut, produced 4.36 million b/d in April, the survey found, as the Taq Taq field in the Kurdistan Region of the country has seen output decline, while exports from Iraq’s Persian Gulf terminal also fell during the month. The country’s April output is 9,000 b/d above its quota under the deal, the closest it has been to compliance. Over the January through April period, however, its average remains 60,000 b/d above its quota, the highest among OPEC members.
Iran, which is allowed a slight output increase under the deal, held production steady in April at 3.77 million b/d, the survey found, below its quota of 3.797 million b/d. The UAE, also under pressure from fellow OPEC members to come into compliance with its quota, lowered production slightly to 2.84 million b/d, down 10,000 b/d from March, the survey found.
