OPEC reports rise in oil output
OPEC oil production averaged 31.544 million barrels per day in August, compared to 31.531 million barrels per day in July, according to the organization’s Monthly Oil Market Report published on September 14.
Crude oil output increased mostly from Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while production in Iraq and Angola showed the largest drop, according to the report.
OPEC crude oil production, not including Iraq, stood at 27.48 million barrels per day in August, up by 99,000 barrels per day over the previous month.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, increased its production in August by 30,000 barrels per day to 10.362 million barrels per day.
Iran’s oil production increased by 4,000 barrels per day to 2.857 million barrels per day while Iraq’s oil production decreased by 86,000 barrels per day to 4.062 million barrels per day.
Currently, OPEC’s quota for oil production is 30 million barrels per day. However, the member states do not comply with this quota.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states pushed OPEC's strategy shift last year to defend market share rather than cut output to support oil prices, which experienced a historic fall as US oil prices fell below $40 a barrel on Aug. 28 for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis.
Opec is next scheduled to meet in December for its final gathering of the year. The group last met this summer in Vienna, when it agreed to leave its production ceiling unchanged at 30 million barrels per day.
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