Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 9
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's crude oil output (excluding condensates) stood at 2.754 million barrels per day (mbpd) in January, 25,100 barrels less compared to December, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its latest monthly report released Feb. 9.
The Islamic Republic ranked fifth among the OPEC countries after Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Kuwait based on secondary sources. Iran's place has decreased by two steps compared to preceding month as a result of output rise by Kuwait and the UAE.
The Islamic Republic's oil production is 3.02 mbpd for January according to an OPEC report based on direct communication, indicating a 266,000 barrel difference between OPEC's estimates and Iran's data.
Iran's data also says that the country has reduced its output by 30,000 barrels per day in a monthly basis.
Iran stood at third place, in an OPEC report on oil production in 2012 after Saudi Arabia and Iraq, however in 2013 it fell to the fifth spot.
The country's oil production has increased by 81,000 bpd since 2013. Meanwhile, compared to the 2014 figure the country's oil output indicates a fall by 12,000 bpd.
The report also says that OPEC members' total crude oil output has fallen by about 53,200 bpd in January compared to December, reaching 30.153 mbpd.
The biggest decline in the crude production level belongs to Iraq with 279,100 bpd fall in a month, followed by Libya (131,700 bpd) and Kuwait (59,400 bpd). It is while Angola has increased its crude output by 122,100 to 1.777 mbpd in January.
OPEC's major oil producer, Saudi Arabia crude oil output stood at 9.683 mbpd, 93,200 barrels more compared to December.
Kuwait and the UAE also have increased their output by 77,600 and 63,900 barrels per day respectively.
Iran's Heavy crude oil price stood at $42.84/b in January, indicating a sharp fall by $ 16.15 or 37.7 percent compared to the preceding month.
The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) ended January down over 25 percent m-o-m to its lowest value in six years as global markets continued to be oversupplied and demand had yet to pick up. The ORB dropped $15.08 to $44.38/b, down $60.33 or 57.6 percent from a year ago.
World oil demand for 2014 is estimated at 91.15 mbpd. In 2015, world oil demand is forecast to increase by 1.17 mbpd and hit 92.32 mbpd.
The demand for OPEC crude is estimated at 29.1 mbpd in 2014, representing a decrease of 1.2 mbpd from last year level.
In 2015, required OPEC crude is projected at 29.2 mbpd, representing an increase by 0.1 mbpd from estimated 2014 level.
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