OPEC cut oil output in November as Saudi Arabia and other members delivered on more than half of their first pledge to curb supply since 2004 in a bid to bolster prices, a Reuters survey showed today.
Supply from the 10 countries bound by output targets, all except Iraq, fell to 26.855 million barrels per day, down 785,000 bpd from October, the survey found. That still left them pumping more than their November target of 26.3 million bpd.
"On the one hand you can say OPEC have cut, but they are still well above the target," said Conrad Gerber, head of consultant Petrologistics, which assesses OPEC supply by tracking tanker shipments. The drop follows a deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in October to lower output by 1.2 million bpd starting November 1st to stem a sharp slide in oil prices from an all-time peak of $78.40 a barrel hit in July.
Total OPEC output fell to 28.815 million bpd from 29.54 million bpd in October, the survey of consultants, shipping analysts and oil-company sources found.
Top world exporter Saudi Arabia, shouldering the largest single part of OPEC's cutback, made virtually all of its 380,000 reduction, according to the survey. Compliance was also high in Gulf producers Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Output fell in Venezuela and Iran, which some analysts had expected would not cut supply at all.
With oil still above $60 a barrel - three times higher than in early 2002 - some analysts have been sceptical that OPEC would cut supply by the full amount pledged.
Oil prices slipped almost a dollar today, a day after climbing to a two-month high. US crude was down 66 cents at $62.47 a barrel earlier.