OPEC NEWS

The world oil market is moving closer to balance despite the increases in US oil production pushing prices down in the short-term, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said. “This is not a good indication of where the market is likely to be headed… as the large new production capacity and investment we will need in the future are lagging,” Nasser said during an event at Columbia University in New York on April 14, according to Bloomberg. “While the short-term market is pointing to a surplus of oil, the supply required in the coming years is falling behind.” Nasser pointed to indicators that suggest a more balanced market. The combined inventories of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) are flattening and poised to drop, among other signs that the market is tightening, he said.
• Nigeria will revive oil production this summer as it completes maintenance and repairs, and expects fellow OPEC members to continue to cut their output in the second half of the year, Oil Minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said. Africa’s second-biggest oil producer will finish repairs on the Forcados pipeline by June and complete maintenance at the Bonga oilfield the following month, Kachikwu said in a Bloomberg Television interview on April 13. The country’s output slumped to 1.27 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, the lowest in decades, according to official data. It aims to reach 2.2 million bpd. With production losses due to militant attacks, Nigeria had been exempt from output cuts by OPEC. The nation will join the OPEC deal once it has fully restored lost output, which could happen as early as October or November, and meanwhile, expects its counterparts to extend the cuts to keep oil prices above $50 a barrel, Kachikwu said.
• OPEC achieved 99 percent of its promised supply reduction through March as Saudi Arabia, along with Kuwait, Qatar and Angola, cut more than required, making up for lagging compliance in Iraq and the UAE, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report on April 13. The group’s output dropped by 365,000 bpd to 31.68 million bpd, it said. The 11 non-OPEC producers who joined OPEC in the accord delivered 64 percent of their pledged cuts, their strongest adherence since the deal began in January.
•l OPEC said in its monthly report on April 12 that oil inventories shrank in developed nations as its production cuts took effect, yet forecast that rivals in the US shale industry are growing stronger. OPEC also boosted estimates for rival supplies for the third month as shale drillers emerge from the industry’s two-year slump. Compliance among the 11 members bound by the deal rose to 104 percent in March, as the UAE moved closer to its ceiling, Venezuela delivered its full promised reduction and Saudi Arabia continued to cut by even more than required for a third month. The output from all 13 members declined by 152,700 bpd in March to 31.928 million bpd.

Source: Arab News