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October 14, 2007
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Sunday
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Shawwal 1, 1428
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Opec output goes up by 300,000 bpd
By Syed Rashid Husain
RIYADH, Oct 13: Opec production in September went up by 300,000 barrels a day as compared to August, a Platts survey said.
Total crude-oil production from the 12-member countries s of the Opec rose to 30.76 million barrels per day as compared to 30.46 million barrels in August, the survey confirmed.
Iraqi volumes reportedly also recovered during the month and several other Opec member countries also overstepped the existing production constraints.
Supply from the 10 members bound by output agreements rose to 26.87 million barrels from 26.79 million barrels in August, an increase of 80,000 barrels per day, the survey of Opec and oil industry officials showed.
Iraq, which does not participate in production pacts, accounted for the larger part of the 300,000 barrels per day month-on-month increase in the Opec output.
Several other countries boosted volumes by a collective 120,000 barrels per day.
“The 300,000 barrels-per-day increase in output is significant, and is a good sign not only heading into the fourth quarter but also the period beginning in November, when Opec is to raise production further, as previously announced,” said John Kingston, global director of oil at Platts.
“There’s still a large fourth-quarter gap between anticipated supply and demand, and Opec will be hard-pressed to fill it. But whatever steps it is taking to fill that difference will mean less of an inventory drawdown, which is positive for consumers.”
Angola, also currently exempt from output pacts, pushed output up to 1.72 million barrels per day from 1.68 million barrels in August, edging closer to the two million barrels it is targeting by the end of this year.
Among the Opec-10, supply from Saudi Arabia averaged 8.7 million barrels per day, up from 8.66 million barrels in August but well below the 8.943 million barrels per day allocation that comes into effect on Nov 1 as part of Opec’s Sept 11 agreement to boost actual supply by 500,000 barrels. Nigerian supply rose to 2.18 million barrels in September from 2.15m barrels in August.
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