Bloomberg
New York
Opec crude output declined last month as Iraqi production slipped from a record in June.
Output by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries decreased 362,000 barrels to 32.107mn a day last month, according to a Bloomberg survey of oil companies, producers and analysts. June’s total was revised 335,000 barrels higher, to 32.469mn a day, because of changes to the Saudi, Kuwaiti, Angolan and Nigerian estimates.
Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, relapsed into a bear market last week on speculation that the global supply glut will grow. Opec agreed on June 5 to retain its collective output target of 30mn bpd, a level that it’s exceeded for 14 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Prices are going to remain under pressure because output is near record levels in several Opec countries,” John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by phone.
Iraqi production dropped 194,000 bpd to 4.194mn last month, according to the survey. Iraq, Opec’s second-biggest producer, was responsible for more than half of the total decline last month. Exports from the south of the country through the Arabian Gulf rose to a record while there was a larger dip in shipments from the north through the port of Ceyhan on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
Saudi Arabia, Opec’s top producer, increased output by 70,000 bpd to 10.57mn in July, the most in monthly Bloomberg data going back to 1989. Fuel consumption in the Arabian peninsula peaks in the summer months, when high temperatures lead to increased use of air conditioners.
Iranian production was steady at 2.85mn last month. The nation pumped more than 3.1mn bpd from 1991 until July 2012, when additional sanctions were imposed on the Islamic republic to curb its nuclear programme. After its nuclear accord with world powers last month, Iran will focus on regaining market share it lost due to sanctions, regardless of the impact on prices, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on July 20 in Tehran. The nation is seeking to produce almost 4mn bpd within seven months of sanctions being removed.
