World oil supply up but spare capacity tight

World oil inventories have risen over the past two months, aided by increased output from Iraq and Libya, but spare production capacity remains tight, the US government said yesterday. Global fuels output exceeded consumption by an average of 1mn barrels per day in May and June, helping to push oil inventories higher and prices lower, the Energy Information Administration said in a report. The EIA report is required every 60 days under the Iran sanctions law signed by President Barack Obama late last year that called for restricting Iran’s ability to sell its crude oil on world markets. The EIA estimated that world spare production capacity grew in the last two months to 2.4mn bpd, up from 2.1mn bpd in the previous two months. The EIA warned, however, that spare world oil capacity was less than 3% of total world consumption, making it a factor as US imposes sanctions and the European Union embargoes Iranian oil shipments from July 1. “Spare capacity in May and June is still quite modest by historical standards, especially when measured as a percentage of global oil production and consumption,” the EIA said. With only a thin spare oil supply cushion, unforeseen oil production outages, such as major damage to oil platforms from hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico or an upsurge of violence in producers such as Nigeria can quickly boost oil prices. Global liquid fuel output in May and June hit 88.9mn bpd, up about 2.9mn bpd from the same period last year, the EIA said. Most of the gain came from increased output from Opec members Iraq and Libya. Output has also grown from Saudi Arabia. The figures showing better supplies and falling oil prices cheered supporters of US sanctions on Iranian oil transactions that get underway on June 28. “This is great news for sanctions supporters and very bad news for the Iranian economy,” said a Senate Republican aide. from gulf times.