OpeOluwani Akintayo
21 October 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — An internal document prepared by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC’s Vienna headquarters for a technical panel meeting on Friday showed that OPEC members, excluding Nigeria, Libya and Congo pumped an extra 428,000 barrels per day in September.
Nigeria, Congo, and Libya have been exempted from the cuts agreed upon late 2016. Including them brings the increase in OPEC’s output in September to 628,000 bpd.
The additional barrels probably confirms that OPEC is up to the task of pumping more into the market to bridge the supply gap by Iran.
Likewise, this gives thought that the group might just be caving into President Donald Trump’s threat of facing a lawsuit if the group refuses to bring down prices.
Oil had sold for $85pb last month as a result of cuts from OPEC- a move not acceptable by President Trump who had severally, called on OPEC and its partners, Russia, to pump more oil into the market.
Saudi Arabia pumped most of the extra oil, raising output by 524,000 bpd in September compared to May, the document showed. Other increases came from Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran cut production by 376,000 bpd in September versus May and has said OPEC and Saudi Arabia are not able to make up for a total loss of its exports. The nuclear sanction against the country by the U.S will start taking effect from November 4.
Among other OPEC members, production fell by 189,000 bpd in Venezuela and by 17,000 bpd in Angola.
The non-OPEC nations cooperating with OPEC pumped an extra 296,000 bpd since May, the OPEC document showed. Russia increased output by 389,000 bpd, although Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Malaysia posted declines.
