OPEC Oil Production Rises Again in January Despite Price Declines

OPEC's oil production increased by 130,000 barrels per day in January, reaching 30.37 million barrels. According to a report by Reuters published on Friday, February 10, the 12 OPEC members failed to reach an agreement on reducing the organization's production ceiling during the December meeting, and current OPEC production is even 370,000 barrels per day above the production ceiling. The price of the OPEC oil basket, which was around $108 per barrel in June, has now halved, and the lack of consensus among the members of this organization on reducing the production ceiling has accelerated this decline, causing the OPEC oil price to fall to nearly $42 in early January. On Friday, each barrel of OPEC crude was traded at $49. Abdullah al-Badri, OPEC's Secretary General, supported the lack of a reduction in OPEC oil production despite the existence of surplus oil. An Arab source in the Gulf states also told Reuters that prices are stabilizing, but global economic growth is still not strong, and the price shock is very high. The main factor for the renewed increase in OPEC oil production this month is the surge in Algerian production by 160,000 barrels per day, related to delays in the shipment of oil cargoes that had been pending since last month. A source told Reuters that Saudi production has not increased. The executive director of Saudi Arabia's state oil company, Aramco, said on Tuesday that the current oil production of the country is 9.8 million barrels per day, but did not specify whether this figure refers to the average production for the current month or Tuesday. In a separate report on Friday, Reuters also reported a 19.8% increase in Iran's oil exports to Asian countries. Last year, Iran exported 1.12 million barrels of crude oil daily to China, India, Japan, and South Korea, which is an unprecedented figure in the past three years. In addition to these four countries, Iran also exports oil to Turkey, although no statistics have been published so far. However, the International Monetary Fund released a report last week stating that Iran exported a total of 1.24 million barrels of oil daily last year. Nevertheless, the World Bank reported on Thursday that if current oil prices continue and Iran cannot reach a comprehensive agreement with the six world powers on its nuclear program by the first half of this year, the total value of its oil exports for this year will be $23 billion, while this figure reached $120 billion in 2011. Iran's crude oil exports in 2011 were 2.2 million barrels per day.