Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 26
By Aygun Badalova - Trend:
OPEC production in February will likely be less than 30 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first time since May 2014, analysts of the US JP Morgan bank said in a report obtained by Trend.
In particular, analysts forecast this month OPEC production to be at the level of 29.8 million bpd, which is 350,000 bpd below analysts' previous estimate.
Analysts stressed that OPEC production was 80,000 bpd higher than they had expected for November, December and January-largely as Saudi Arabia continued to produce higher than 9.5 million bpd.
Despite pegging Saudi Arabian crude production at 9.7 million bpd for February, OPEC production will likely be less than 30 million bpd, analysts said, added that this has tightened market balances in the very near-term lending support to prices.
Total OPEC crude oil production in January averaged 30.15 million barrels per day, a decrease of 53,000 barrels per day compared the previous month, according to OPEC's latest Oil Market Report.
JP Morgan's OPEC crude oil production estimates (in mbd)
|
January-15 |
February-15 |
|
|
Algeria |
1.1 |
1.1 |
|
Angola/Cabinda |
1.8 |
1.8 |
|
Ecuador |
0.6 |
0.6 |
|
Iran |
2.8 |
2.8 |
|
Iraq |
3.4 |
2.8 |
|
Kuwait |
2.8 |
2.8 |
|
Libya |
0.3 |
0.3 |
|
Nigeria |
2.0 |
2.0 |
|
Qatar |
0.7 |
0.7 |
|
Saudi Arabia |
9.7 |
9.7 |
|
United Arab Emirates |
2.8 |
2.9 |
|
Venezuela |
2.4 |
2.5 |
|
Total |
30.2 |
29.8 |
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Aygun Badalova is Trend Agency's staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AygunBadalova