Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Lead OPEC Output Falls Ahead Of Planned Cut

Decline crude supply by Nigeria and Saudi Arabia resulted in global fall in December, 2016 from a record high ahead of a deal to cut production, a Reuters survey released yesterday revealed.The decline, the first since May according to the surveys, occurred despite higher exports from second-largest OPEC producer Iraq and a further upward trend in Libyan output.According to the survey which was said to be based on shipping data and information from industry sources showed that supply from OPEC in December fell to 34.18 million barrels per day (bpd) from a revised 34.38 million bpd in November.A source in the survey noted that lack of supply from the Forcados crude export terminal following an attack on a pipeline, and shipments of the Agbami stream fell attributed to planned maintenance work were responsible for the shortfall in supply from NigeriaThis is even as Nigeria and Libya were exempted from the OPEC supply cut agreement because of output losses caused by conflict.For Saudi Arabia, the survey noted that though it pumped a record amount in November, sources available to the survey said it supplied less in December. The source explained that exports were lower because customers asked for less crude, not because of cutbacks implemented under the OPEC deal.Exports are down markedly from a massive November number, said one source who tracks Saudi output. The bottom line is December is down from November with regard to supply to market.Among countries with higher output, the largest increase of 70,000 bpd was in Libya, where a two-year blockade was lifted in December on pipelines leading from two western fields. The recovery remains at risk from political conflict.Output also climbed in Iraq, the survey found, with exports from the countrys south most likely exceeding Novembers record rate of 3.407 million bpd, according to shipping data and industry sources.Iran, which was allowed to raise output under the OPEC deal as sanctions had crimped its supply, pumped 30,000 bpd more.Meanwhile, the federal government has resumed payments of cash stipends to former militants agreed under a 2009 amnesty in the Niger Delta oil hub, a government official said yesterday.Authorities had originally cut the budget for cash payments to militants to end corruption but later resumed payments to stop pipeline attacks crippling vital oil revenues.
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