Survey: OPEC+ Output Increased By 140,000 Bpd In December

The combined crude oil output by OPEC+ group rose by 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 42.71 million bpd in December, but the cartel was still 1.8 million bpd below its target, according to the Platts survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Russia’s output was almost unchanged, while Nigeria saw a rebound in output to a several-month high, according to the survey. OPEC-only output was estimated by the monthly Reuters survey last week to have risen by 120,000 bpd in December from November.

The rebound in Nigerian output was one reason of the surging output. Despite the increase in oil output last month, OPEC was still pumping below the collective target of the ten members bound by the OPEC+ pact.  

The larger OPEC+ group moved to cut its accumulative output target by 2 million bpd in November—about 1.27 million bpd set to come from OPEC members.

The 10 producers in OPEC with output quotas saw their combined oil output at 780,000 bpd below the target for OPEC for December, according to the Reuters survey from last week. The shortfall slightly decreased from 800,000 bpd below the OPEC quota for November.

Earlier last week, the Bloomberg survey of OPEC’s output also showed a rise in output for December, by 150,000 bpd over November, thanks to the rebound in Nigerian oil output.

OPEC will report official output figures next week in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for January.

In the larger OPEC+ group, the wild card in output is the biggest non-OPEC member of the OPEC+ alliance, Russia, which is expected to see its output decline as the EU embargoes and the price caps on crude and products take full effect in February.

At the end of December, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia could reduce its oil output by 500,000 bpd to 700,000 bpd in response to the oil price cap.