The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries'
11 members subject to output quotas lowered oil production by about 400,000
barrels a day in December signaling greater compliance to boost crude prices,
tanker tracker Petrologistics said Tuesday.
Compliance in December "is much better then expected," said
Petrologistics head Conrad Gerber.
Output by the group's 11 members with production quotas, which excludes Indonesia and Iraq, is seen at about 27.1 million barrels a day this
month, down from 27.5 million barrels a day in November and below the group's
target of 27.3 million barrels a day in force since Nov. 1 for quota-bound
members, Gerber said.
Saudi Arabia, OPEC's top producer, is expected to pump around 300,000 barrels a
day less in December at 8.2 million barrels a day, according to Petrologistics'
estimates, and below the kingdom's quota of 8.47 million barrels a day.
December oil production in the United Arab Emirates is seen at a daily rate of about 2.2 million barrels,
down 150,000 barrels a day on the previous month, Gerber said.
"I think leadership had to be shown by countries like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries," he said.
OPEC's output is expected to drop further from January after members agreed on
Dec. 17 to cut output by 2.2 million barrels a day to reverse a five-month oil
price slump that has seen crude come down to below $40 a barrel from highs of
$147 a barrel in July.
Since late summer, OPEC has announced three production cuts, including the one
from Dec. 17, totaling 4.2 million barrels a day.