Reuters Survey: OPEC Cut 710,00 Bpd In November

Led by Gulf member states, OPEC oil output dropped in November in line with the OPEC+ pledge to cut output by 2 million barrels per day for the month, according to a Reuters survey released on Wednesday.

OPEC produced 29.01 million barrels per day in November, the survey reported, which is 710,000 bpd lower than production for October. 

Of the 2 million bpd OPEC+ output cut pledge, 1.27 million bpd was to be cut from the 10 original OPEC members, which saw November production fall by 720,000 bpd from October to November. 

According to the Reuters survey, that means that actual production is 800,000 bpd below the pledged November output target. That means over-compliance with the November pledge.

African producers such as Angola and Nigeria have lacked the capacity to produce more. 

Saudi Arabia cut its November output by 500,000 bpd compared to October, the survey found.

On December 4th, OPEC+ will meet for a virtual gathering to discuss future output policy. The fact that the meeting will be virtual has some analysts suggesting there will be no surprise changes to the cartel’s production policy as it waits to see what will happen on Monday with plans for a G7 price cap on Russian oil. 

Unnamed sources polled by Reuters earlier this week viewed a rollover of November cuts into December. 

Contrarily, sources quoted by Bloomberg suggested that further cuts might be discussed on Sunday. 

On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs said OPEC+ was highly likely to take further measures to stem a price decline to balance the market. 

However, since then, oil prices have pared losses from earlier in the week. 

At 1:51 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Brent crude oil was trading up 2.87% at $85.41 per barrel, while WTI was trading up 3.04% at $80.58 after having shed around 4% on Monday. 

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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