OPEC Thursday said its members are pumping at levels not seen since the 2008 recession and said it was becoming more optimistic on oil-demand growth prospects.
OPEC Thursday said its members are pumping at levels not seen since the
2008 recession and said it was becoming more optimistic on oil-demand growth
prospects.
In its latest monthly market report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries said its crude production was 32.42 million barrels a day in March,
up 317,000 barrels a day from the previous month.
The number, based on disclosures by OPEC members, is the highest since summer
2008, after which time the producer group embarked to a string of output cuts
as it sought to revive flagging prices amid a global recession. But the group
has now reversed its production trend as it seeks to dampen prices that are now
well above its ideal level of $100 a barrel.
After downgrading oil consumption forecasts in recent months, the group appear
to be also more optimistic on the health of crude demand. It slightly upgraded
its global oil demand growth figure for 2012, by 40,000 barrels a day to around
900,000 barrels a day. Global oil demand is now estimated at 88.67 million
barrels a day this year.
"Given the stabilization of the
U.S.
economy and the shutdown of Japanese nuclear power plants, world oil demand
growth has--at least for the short-term--stopped its declining trend,"
OPEC said.
However the group, whose members produce one in three barrels consumed
worldwide, warned against any complacency over the strength of the recovery.
"Overall, the global economic outlook remains fragile, with heightened
uncertainties in the euro zone and potential spill-over effects in the emerging
markets," it said.
Yet OPEC could now say it has played its part in helping stabilize oil markets
jittered by fears of disruption to Iranian supply.
Earlier this year, prices rocketed to $128 a barrel after sanctions started
denting oil exports from Iran, and the Islamic Republic threatened to block the
Strait of Hormuz, a key oil shipping route. But other OPEC members, notably
Saudi
Arabia
, have boosted production to
anticipate any disruption, contributing to a build-up of
U.S.
oil
inventories to levels not seen in 21 years and to a sharp drop in oil prices.
Yet, the group may face heated internal debates if it keeps pumping at current
levels.
In its report, OPEC said demand for its crude stands at same level as its
agreed ceiling of 30 million barrels a day, some two million barrels less than
current production.
Iran
last
month accused the Saudis--the group's largest producer by far--of breaching its
OPEC commitments.
Disclosures by the group's members also point to sharp discrepancies on
production estimates, pegging March output at 1.1 million barrels a day higher
than figures from independent oil consultancies.
Much of the difference stems from numbers supplied by
Venezuela
and
Iran
--two
members who have long disputed third-party estimates of their production. For
instance, secondary sources peg Iran's April production at its lowest level in
20 years, at 3.2 million barrels a day, over half a million barrels a day lower
than Iran's official number.
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