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OPEC crude oil output to rise by 0.2 million b/d in 2018

Oil&Gas Materials 11 January 2018 10:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan.11

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

OPEC crude oil production is forecast to increase by 0.2 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2018, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO).

These forecasts partially reflect EIA’s expectation of Libya maintaining relatively high production levels achieved near the end of 2017.

EIA expects that OPEC crude oil output will rise by an additional 0.3 million b/d in 2019 as crude oil production slowly returns to pre-agreement levels.

“OPEC crude oil production averaged 32.5 million b/d in 2017, a decrease of 0.2 million b/d from 2016. The decline was mainly a result of the November 2016 OPEC production agreement that aimed to limit OPEC crude oil output to 32.5 million b/d. Saudi Arabia and a number of Persian Gulf producers reduced crude oil production in support of the agreement. Other countries saw supplies decline because of political factors, as was the case in Venezuela,” said the report.

EIA estimates that in the fourth quarter of 2017, the average compliance rate among OPEC members was near 100 percent. However, the high compliance rate in the latest data includes a sizeable drop in Venezuela’s production level of more than 0.2 million b/d in 2017, said the report.

OPEC and several other non-OPEC producers have reached an agreement to extend the production deal for a further nine months. This would shift the expiration date of the agreement from March to the end of 2018. The agreement is on the same terms as those agreed in November 2016.

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