OPEC misses production quota by 310,000 Bpd

A new Argus survey showed on Friday that OPEC+ production fell to 38.29 million barrels per day last month – 1.81 million barrels per day below the reduced quota.

The 19 OPEC+ members subject to the quota produced 310,000 barrels fewer barrels in November compared to the previous month. But there are still 1.81 million barrels per day below the quota for November. November’s quota was a reduction of 2 million barrels per day from October levels, although it was understood at the time that the group might not be able to meet the reduced target.

Non-OPEC members of the OPEC+ group fared better than the traditional OPEC members, increasing overall production by 460,000 bpd – an eight-month high, according to Argus. Most of those increases came from Kazakhstan, which saw output increase by 330,000 bpd, and Russia̵[ads1]7;s output, which saw a 190,000 bpd increase after restarting Sakhalin 1.

OPEC crude output fell by 770,000 bpd for November, a six-month low. The production decline was led by Saudi Arabia, which saw its production cut by 440,000 bpd.

The biggest laggards among the wider OPEC+ group now, according to Argus, are Russia, which is producing 670,000 bpd below target; Nigeria, producing 530,000 bpd below target, Angola, producing 350,000 bpd below target, and Malaysia, producing 170,000 below target.

The members of the group that met or exceeded the production target are Oman, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria and Gabon.

Overall, non-OPEC members underproduced by 92,000 bpd, while OPEC members’ share of quotas underproduced by 90,000 bpd.

Crude oil prices have fallen significantly this week, prompting some to predict that the OPEC+ group may cut oil production to prop up crude prices. Brent crude was set to end the week more than $10 below this time last week – well below what most analysts suspect is OPEC’s price defense trigger.

By Julianne Geiger

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