The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Tuesday its
production further slipped from agreed cuts in August and it now expected Russia's output to rise this year, potentially putting
pressure on resurgent oil prices.
The news came as OPEC kept its prediction of decline for global oil demand in
2009 and after it formally agreed to maintain existing cuts last week.
In its monthly report, OPEC said production by its 11 quota-bound members
increased by 115,000 barrels a day, rising a fifth straight month in August
above the group's production target. That puts compliance to agreed cuts at
66%, less than the estimate of 68% to 70% disclosed by OPEC last week.
The rise came mostly from Gulf countries, which are responding to resilient
Asian demand. The largest increase came from Kuwait, where production rose
23,000 barrels a day.
Nigeria's
output rose 8,000 barrels a day in August amidst a lull in attacks on the
country's oil infrastructure and the return of some production at Royal Dutch
Shell Group PLC's (RDSA) 115,000 barrels a day EA field in July.
The statistics come after OPEC Thursday in Vienna decided to keep its output unchanged
but emphasized the need for members to comply with agreed cuts announced last
year.
Since April, those members - many of which are trying to secure more oil
revenue to keep state finances together amid the global recession - have
boosted production by about 535,000 barrels a day.
Though compliance level is still decent by historical standards, it comes as
OPEC estimated Russia's output would rise in 2009. Though not an OPEC
member, Russia, which is the world's largest oil producer, said
last year it may join OPEC's cuts.
But OPEC said oil supply from Russia is
forecast to increase by 50,000 barrels a day in 2009, upgrading its estimates
by as much to an average of 9.83 million barrels this year. It said the
revision was tied to startup and rapid ramp-up of the Eastern Siberian Vankor
field.