The daily output of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, climbed to a three-year high in June.
This came despite the clamor by poorer members that the cartel should reduce crude oil production due to the drop in prices.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq hit record or near-record output, despite the clamour by the poorer members, as well as outages in Nigeria and Libya that reduced exports.
Riyadh and its gulf allies have opposed any reduction in OPEC’s output, so as not to lose market share to shale oil.
Due to the loading delays at the Bonny export terminal and a force majeure on exports of Forcados crude, Nigeria’s output increased by only 60,000 barrels per day.
According Reuters survey, the boost from OPEC puts output further above its target of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) and comes despite outages in the two countries.
The survey revealed that OPEC supply jumped in June to 31.60 million bpd from a revised 31.30 million bpd in May, based on shipping data and information from sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants.
The cartel has raised output by more than 1.3 million bpd since it decided in November 2014 to defend market share rather than prices.
Source: BizwatchNigeria
