Output from Opec members climbed in May
Output from Opec countries accelerated last month as Nigeria and Libya offset cuts from their peers in the cartel.
The two countries have been exempt from the supply curb deal agreed among big producer countries, that started in January and which was extended in May for a further nine months.
The data in Opec’s monthly oil market report illustrates the latest challenge facing the group, which is already grappling with a renewed price drop and a reinvigorated US shale industry.
Although output in both Nigeria and Libya remains volatile due to political instability and violence, their combined production increased by more than 350,000 b/d last month, according to data from consultants and analysts submitted to Opec’s research arm.
That amount is equal to more than a quarter of the supply curbs Opec has implemented since the start of the year.
Libya and Nigeria contributed to a rise in Opec’s total production to 32.1m b/d from the prior month’s 31.8m b/d, according to the group’s monthly oil market report.
The level is still lower than the more than 33m b/d the group averaged in the last three months of 2016, before a cuts deal was agreed between Opec and producers such as Russia.
Although Brent crude prices reached nearly $60 a barrel at the start of the year, when output curbs came into effect, they have since fallen.Prices are languishing below $50 a barrel as production from US shale oil fields has also risen.
Separate data from Opec’s research arm published on Tuesday showed the average price of an Opec barrel was $40.76 in 2016, down from $49.49 in 2015.
The annual statistical bulletin showed the value of members’ petroleum exports stood at $446m in 2016 – a fall of 53 per cent since 2014 levels, when the crude market downturn got underway.