Nigeria’s Declining Output Lowers Overall OPEC Output In January

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) recorded a lower oil output in January, as Nigeria’s output failed to recover.

A reuters survey on Tuesday, showed that Iraqi exports declined while Gulf members maintained strong compliance with an OPEC+ deal on production cuts to support the market.

The OPEC pumped 28.87 million barrels per day (bpd), the survey found, down 50,000 bpd from December.

In September, OPEC output hit its highest since 2020.

Output from OPEC and allies including Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, increased for most of 2022 as demand recovered.

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For November, with oil prices weakening, the group made its largest cut to production targets since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Its decision from November called for a 2 million bpd cut to the OPEC+ output target, of which about 1.27 million bpd was meant to come from the 10 participating OPEC countries. The same target currently applies.

With the decline in output this month, compliance with the agreement rose to 172 per cent of pledged cuts, according to the survey, against 161 per cent in December.

Output is significantly undershooting targeted amounts because many producers – notably Nigeria and Angola – lack the capacity to pump at the agreed levels.

The 10 OPEC members required to cut production pumped 920,000 bpd below the group’s January target, the survey found.

in December was 780,000 bpd.

OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, has exported fewer barrels this month from its southern fields, according to Eikon data and two companies that track the flows.

Nigerian output, which rebounded in December, held at similar levels in January, the survey found, leaving more to do if the country is to meet a target to lift output to 1.6 million bpd this quarter.

OPEC’s Gulf producers complied relatively closely with their targets under the OPEC+ agreement, the survey found. Saudi Arabia was also thought by some sources in the survey to have trimmed exports. Output in the United Arab Emirates edged up by about 10,000 bpd.

Among Libya, Iran and Venezuela, the three producers exempt from OPEC cuts, Venezuela’s output was slightly higher and there was a small decline in Iran, which registered a surge in exports in December.

The Reuters survey aims to track supply to the market. It is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Refinitiv Eikon flows data, information from companies that track flows, such as Petro-Logistics and Kpler, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consultants.