OPEC Staying Within Quotas, 2 Journals Say
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has succeeded so far in keeping within the overall production target that it agreed on last month--despite three quota breaches, industry journals reported Monday.
The Middle East Economic Survey, published in Nicosia, Cyprus, said total exports ran at about 14.3 million to 14.4 million barrels daily in the first half of September and predicted that this would drop in the second half because of Iraqi air raids on Iran’s oil terminals.
The Geneva agreement targeted an aggregate output of 14.8 million 42-gallon barrels daily for 12 of the 13 cartel members. Iraq, which was producing an estimated 2 million barrels daily, was left free to produce any amount.
Saudis Below Target
The Nicosia journal said Saudi Arabian production in the first two weeks of September was well below its quota of 4.35 million barrels a day and cited this as a main reason that the cartel had managed to stay within its targeted overall output.
In New York, the authoritative Petroleum Intelligence Weekly reported Monday that OPEC’s cut in exports was “more, not less, than promised.”
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