Platts Survey: OPEC Oil Output Rises 300,000 b/d in September, to 30.76 Million b/d, Bolstered by Iraqi Volumes

Platts Survey: OPEC Oil Output Rises 300,000 b/d in September, to 30.76 Million b/d, Bolstered by Iraqi Volumes

October 12, 2007

    LONDON, Oct. 12 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- 

    Total crude-oil production from the 12 members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose
300,000 barrels per day (b/d) in September, to 30.76
million b/d from 30.46 million b/d in August, as Iraqi
volumes recovered and several other member countries
further relaxed existing production constraints ahead of a
formal output hike in November, a Platts survey showed
October 11. 

    Supply from the 10 members bound by output agreements
rose to 26.87 million b/d from 26.79 million b/d in August,
an increase of 80,000 b/d, 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 b/d
month-on-month increase in OPEC-12 output. Several other
countries boosted volumes by a collective 120,000 b/d.

    "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. "Some of the increases are small, but
they're positive nonetheless, such as the higher output
from Nigeria and Angola. 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 b/d from 1.68 million b/d in
August, edging closer to the 2 million b/d it is targeting
by the end of this year.

    Among the OPEC-10, supply from Saudi Arabia averaged
8.7 million b/d, up from 8.66 million b/d in August but
well below the 8.943 million b/d allocation that comes into
effect on November 1 as part of OPEC's September 11
agreement to boost actual supply by 500,000 b/d.

    Nigerian supply rose to 2.18 million b/d in September
from 2.15 million b/d in August.  
    OPEC, which uses secondary sources to monitor its own
output, agreed to use estimated August production of around
26.75 million b/d for the OPEC-10 as a baseline for its
500,000 b/d increase rather than the previous notional
target of 25.8 million b/d.

    The group did not formally publish the breakdown of the
new 27.253 million b/d output target, but the allocations
appeared briefly on OPEC's website.   


                                                           
           Nov 1 
    Country       September     August       July       
June         target 
    Algeria           1.360      1.360      1.350      
1.350          1.357 
    Indonesia         0.830      0.830      0.830      
0.830          0.865 
    Iran              3.880      3.880      3.900      
3.880          3.817 
    Kuwait            2.420      2.420      2.420      
2.420          2.531 
    Libya             1.700      1.690      1.680      
1.680          1.712 
    Nigeria           2.180      2.150      2.150      
2.080          2.163 
    Qatar             0.810      0.810      0.810      
0.800          0.828 
    Saudi                                                  
             
    Arabia            8.700      8.660      8.610      
8.610          8.943 
    UAE               2.590      2.590      2.560      
2.550          2.567 
    Venezuela         2.400      2.400      2.400      
2.400          2.470 
    OPEC-10          26.870     26.790     26.710     
26.600         27.253 
    Angola*           1.720      1.680      1.670      
1.640           N/A   
    Iraq              2.170      1.990      2.120      
1.980           N/A   
    Total            30.760     30.460     30.500     
30.220            
    * Angola joined OPEC on January 1, 2007.               
           

    For more information on OPEC, go to the "Platts
OPEC Guide" at http://www.opec.platts.com.

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