A ramp-up in oil production in Nigeria pushed up OPEC's total in June, also helped by smaller but meaningful production increases in Libya and Saudi Arabia. A Reuters survey from June 30 had put the estimated June total at 32.82 million bpd, from 32.57 million bpd in May.
After reaching a ceasefire with the Niger Delta Avengers militants and repairing some of the damages caused by them to transport infrastructure, Nigeria managed to boost output by 90,000 bpd from May, to a total 1.53 million bpd. Unfortunately, the ceasefire seems to have been temporary, as the Avengers again made headlines on Sunday with fresh attacks on oil infrastructure in the Delta.
The ramp-up in Nigerian production took place towards the end of the month, after the ceasfire. Nigeria's Oil Minister said in late June that although rebel activity had reduced the country's overall output to 1.3 million bpd from 2.2 million bpd, output in July could rebound back to 2.2 million bpd, after reaching 1.8-1.9 million in late June. This is questionable given the latest attacks by the Niger Delta Avengers.
Saudi Arabia, in spite of its pledge to gradually start shifting away from crude and toward renewable energy, also increased its daily output in June, by 70,000 bpd to 10.33 million bpd. To be fair, the change is seasonal and is caused by the increase in power demand for air conditioning in the summer months.
Related: Consolidation In Libyan Oil - A Major Red Flag For Oil Markets?
Libya, for its part, upped production by 40,000 bpd to a total 320,000, after the leaders of the two divisions of its state oil company agreed to work together and reunify the company. Iran pumped 3.5 million bpd in June, unchanged from May, while Iraq posted a decline of 70,000 bpd, to 4.3 million bpd.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More
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