P.M. BRIEFING : OPEC Goes Above Output Ceiling
OPEC produced about 21.6 million barrels of oil a day last month, up from a revised 21.4 million in July and far above the cartel’s self-imposed ceiling, the International Energy Agency said today.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report, the IEA said that most of the excess production came from Iran.
The latest estimate, one of the highest this year, exceeds the 19.5 million barrels a day that the cartel agreed to produce in the last half of this year to keep output under control and prices firm. OPEC had also decided in June on a target price of $18 a barrel.
Despite promises to keep production in check, OPEC’s supply has remained strong and prices have slipped since last spring when they reached their highs of the year. The average price of a basket of seven crudes monitored by OPEC registered $16.44 a barrel at the end of August. It topped the $18 mark last spring.
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