energy sector

Today, Tuesday, a Reuters survey showed that OPEC oil production increased in February, supported by the recovery of oil supplies in Nigeria, despite the commitment of major oil producers to the broader OPEC + alliance agreement to cut production to support the market.

The survey showed that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 28.97 million barrels per day during the current month, an increase of 150 thousand barrels per day from last January.

It should be noted that production is still down by more than 700,000 barrels per day, since last September.

Nigeria suffers from the theft of its crude oil, and from many security problems in its oil-producing areas, which affected production rates and supply ratios.

The Reuters survey found that several crude oil flow sources produced more in February, although output from Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, still fell short of the OPEC target.

Production of OPEC +, a group that includes OPEC countries in addition to other partners, increased for most of 2022 with the recovery of global demand after the pandemic, but with the decline in oil prices last November, the group announced the largest reduction in targeted production since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic. .

The rate of compliance with the production cut agreement pledged by the countries reached 169%, according to the survey, compared to 172% in January.

Oil production remains below target levels, because many producing countries, particularly Nigeria and Angola, lack the capacity to pump at agreed levels.

Angola recorded the largest decline in oil production, amounting to 80 thousand barrels per day, due to a relatively limited export program and maintenance operations in the Dalia oil field.

Nigeria and Iraq…a remarkable increase in production

The survey showed that oil production in Nigeria recorded the largest increase in OPEC, by 100,000 barrels per day, this month, bringing the country close to achieving the goal of increasing its production to 1.6 million barrels per day during this quarter.

Iraq, which is the second largest producer of crude oil in OPEC, came second in terms of increased production after Nigeria.

According to the data of “Refinitiv Eikon” and other companies that follow the movement of oil, that Iraq increased the volume of its exports of oil extracted from the south of the country this month, which compensated for the decrease in its exports from the north of the country through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which stopped work for a short period due to the earthquake that struck. Turkey and Syria.

The survey concluded that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, all members of OPEC, showed strong commitment to the production target under the OPEC+ agreement.

The agreement excludes Venezuela, Libya and Iran from the production cuts.

According to the survey, Iran recorded an increase in its exports in February, while Venezuela’s oil production increased slightly, and Libya’s oil production remained unchanged.

Also read: A new jump in Iranian oil exports… Why do sanctions not achieve Washington’s goals?

The Reuters survey aims to track supply in the market and relies on shipping data provided by external sources, Refinitiv Eikon data, information from companies that track flows such as Petro-Logistics and Kepler, as well as information provided by oil company sources. OPEC and global advisors.