- Nigeria Suffers Biggest Oil Output Decline in OPEC
Nigeria suffered the biggest decline in crude oil production in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries last month as its output fell by 114,500 barrels per day.
OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report for June, put Nigeria’s output at 1.516 million bpd in May, down from 1.63 million in April and 1.861 million bpd in December 2017.
Angola, which replaced Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer during the resurgence of militant attacks on facilities in the Niger Delta in 2016, also saw its production fall to 1.486 million bpd from 1.498 million bpd in April.
Kuwait’s output dropped to 2.7 million bpd in May from 2.705 million bpd in April while Ecuador recorded a decrease of 1,000 bpd to 516,000 bpd in May.
Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the group, recorded the biggest increase in May as its oil production rose by 161,400 bpd to 10.03 million bpd.
The 14-member oil group uses secondary sources to monitor its oil output, but also publishes a table of figures submitted by its member countries.
According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production averaged 31.87 million bpd in May, an increase of 35,000 bpd from the previous month.
“Higher production in Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Iraq was partially offset by decreased crude oil production, mainly in Nigeria, Venezuela and Libya,” the oil cartel said.
Preliminary data for May 2018 indicated that global oil supply increased by 270,000 bpd month-on-month to average 97.86 million bpd, representing an increase of 1.74 million year-on-year.
Liquids supply in non-OPEC countries increased by 230,000 bpd month-on-month to average 65.99 million bpd, up by 2.09 million bpd year-on-year. In May, oil supply increased in the US, Canada, Brunei, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Ghana month-on-month, while declines in production were seen in Mexico, Norway, the UK, Australia, Colombia, Egypt, and China.
OPEC said, “Recent developments in the oil market have led to pronounced uncertainty about the second half of the year. Year-to-date at the end of May, crude oil prices are 30 per cent higher than in the same period last year, with ICE Brent averaging above $70/b for the first time since 2014.
“Draws in crude oil inventories, healthy oil demand and geo-political developments have supported this rising trend. While oil demand in the US, China and India shows some upside potential, downside risks might limit this potential going forward, including a slowdown in the pace of economic growth in some major economies, stronger impact of policy reform with regard to retail prices, and further substitution toward natural gas.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s oil exports are expected to fall in July to just 1.43 million bpd, loading plans showed on Monday, the lowest level so far this year, according to Reuters.
The export plan comprised 48 cargoes, compared with 60 cargoes and a daily rate of 1.796 million bpd in June, due in part to an outage on the Bonny Light stream, which has been under force majeure for a month.
July’s export plan also includes four cargoes of Akpo condensate with 123,000 bpd, compared with four cargoes in June with 133,000 bpd.
The export plans showed one extra cargo of Agbami than in June, as well as one more Bonga and an extra Qua Iboe. It also shows three fewer Forcados and one fewer Escravos.
A number of smaller streams showed no cargoes would load in July.
Nigerian oil export plans are prone to revisions and delays, with cargoes frequently pushed from one month to the next.
