OPEC Exports Up 370,000 B/D In 4 Weeks To May 21 – Analyst

Crude shipments from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries through May 21 are set to rise 370,000 b/d, but should taper off, a leading tanker tracker said Thursday.

The extra oil will bring the four-week rolling average to 23.97 million b/d, about a million barrels more than the March low, but still off from December’s surge, Oil Movements said.

“Indications are that volume is leveling out,” said Roy Mason, head of Oil Movements.
High volumes of oil still in transit on the sea mean U.S. imports will continue to rise, leading to likely further builds in U.S. oil inventories unless refinery runs increase, Mason said.

“Through most of this month, incoming long haul barrels will still be working to lift imports,” he said.

June exports usually slow with the seasonal drop in Asian demand, he said.

Meanwhile, spot tanker markets are holding flat, which means freight rates won’t constrain traders, he said.

OPEC’s output rose 110,000 b/d in April, to 29.95 million b/d, mainly on Saudi Arabia and Kuwaiti hikes, a Dow Jones Newswires survey shows.

Saudi Arabia has said it will pump whatever customers want, but raised its official selling price for June, an indication it wants to damp demand.

Despite data Wednesday showing twice the expected builds in U.S. oil inventories, oil prices rebounded back above $50 a barrel in Nymex.

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