NEW YORK: Opec oil production declined the most in 18 months in September, led by reductions in West African members Angola and Nigeria, a Bloomberg survey showed.
Output in the 12-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries slipped 454,000 barrels, or 1.4 percent, to an average 31.979 million barrels a day this month from a revised 32.433 million in August, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts.
Angola reduced production by 200,000 barrels to 1.67 million barrels a day this month because of maintenance at the Mondo and Gimboa offshore fields. Output surged 18 percent to 1.87 million barrels in August, the highest level in two years.
Nigeria output
Nigeria’s output declined 190,000 barrels to an average 1.96 million barrels a day in September. Production may climb in October as exports increase, according to loading programs. The programs are monthly lists of crude shipments compiled by field operators to allow buyers and sellers to plan their supply and trading activities.
“The Angolan and Nigerian production declines are temporary and due to maintenance issues,” said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Mass. “Their production will rebound next month. This doesn’t suggest a change in Opec policy.”
Brent oil for November settlement rose 28 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $112.29 a barrel. New York time on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The futures, used to price more than half the world’s crude, have dropped 2 percent this month.
Output in Iran, the Opec’s third-biggest producer, climbed 100,000 barrels a day to 2.85 million. August production dropped to 2.75 million barrels a day, the lowest level since February 1990.
Sanctions aimed at stopping the Islamic republic’s nuclear program have hindered its ability to export crude oil. A European Union ban on the purchase, transport, financing and insurance of Iranian oil went into effect on July 1.
Saudi Arabia, Opec’s biggest producer, pumped 9.8 million barrels a day this month, down 100,000 barrels from August. “A 100,000-barrel change in Saudi output is just noise,” Lynch said.
Iraq production
Iraqi production increased 77,000 barrels to 3.35 million a day this month, the highest level since May 2000. The country’s output had been depressed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. Iraq is the second-biggest producer in OPEC since surpassing Iran in August.
“Iran’s problems have fortuitous for Iraq,” said Sarah Emerson, managing director of Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Mass. “If not for the big drop in Iran’s output other Opec members would be putting pressure on Iraq to cut production.”
Iraqi crude output has climbed 620,000 barrels a day over the past year as Iranian production slipped 735,000 barrels, the survey shows.
“Iraq has helped us deal with the issues raised by the Iran sanctions,” Emerson said. “Iraqi barrels almost make up all of the lost production from Iran.”
Opec, provider of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, maintained its official production ceiling at 30 million barrels a day at a meeting in Vienna on June 14. Ministers from the group’s members are next scheduled to gather on Dec. 12.
WP-BLOOMBERG
