OPEC Members Raise Exports in November Led by Saudi Arabia, Iran

OPEC members led by Saudi Arabia increased exports of oil in November from a month earlier as demand for the group’s crude increased, data submitted by governments to the Joint Organization Data Initiative showed.

Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, raised exports by 721,000 barrels a day to 7.8 million barrels a day in November from a month earlier, according to JODI data.

Iran, the group’s second-largest producer, increased its exports by 5,000 barrels a day in November to 2.02 million barrels a day, the data showed. Iraq raised exports to 2.14 million barrels a day, while Ecuador boosted shipments by 8.2 percent and Qatar by 2.3 percent. Nigeria kept its deliveries unchanged last month at 2.28 million. Venezuela and Angola lowered exports during the month, while Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Libya, and Algeria didn’t submit data for the month.

OPEC decided on Dec. 14 to increase its production ceiling to 30 million barrels a day, the first change in three years, moving the group’s target nearer to actual output as it sought to accommodate rising exports from Libya.

OPEC, provider of about 40 percent of the world’s oil, will need to produce 30.1 million barrels a day to balance global crude supply and demand in 2012, the group’s secretariat said on Jan. 16. That’s up 60,000 barrels from its forecast last month.

World oil consumption will advance 1.1 million barrels a day, or 1.2 percent in 2012 to 88.9 million this year, OPEC said in the report.

Bloomberg