Crude Oil Output Falls 1% in Non-OPEC Countries : Energy: The slump proves that those nations, including the United States and Soviet Union, were already producing all that they could, analysts say.

Crude oil output by nations outside OPEC eased 1.1% in the third quarter despite soaring oil prices and efforts to fill a gap in OPEC production, a Reuters survey completed Friday shows.

The 360,000 barrel-per-day drop from the second quarter to 32.39 million barrels per day reflects slumping output in the United States and Soviet Union and maintenance work in Britain and Norway.

“It’s confirmation of what people knew all along, that countries outside OPEC were already producing everything they could,” said County NatWest U.S.A. analyst Adam Sieminski.

Embargoes on Iraqi and Kuwaiti crude following Iraq’s seizure of its fellow OPEC member Aug. 2 cut about 4 million barrels per day from world supplies. Other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have since nearly closed the gap by boosting output.

Survey estimates for oil production by nations outside the cartel are derived from official and industry sources in the Americas, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Soviet production fell 110,000 barrels per day to 11.50 million barrels per day from a high of 12.48 million in 1987. Analysts said the Soviet Union, the world’s biggest producer, is pumping less due to equipment and capital shortages, pipeline problems and labor unrest.

At the same time, U.S. crude oil output fell 90,000 barrels per day to 7.13 million from the previous quarter, the Department of Energy said. Alaska pumped about 3% less crude in the quarter, while the lower 48 states yielded about 1% less.

But Alaskan output jumped to 2 million barrels per day in October due to completion of summer maintenance and enhancement projects.

Norwegian output dropped 150,000 barrels per day to 1.51 million in the quarter due to maintenance shutdowns on many North Sea platforms, according to a survey of oil firms pumping there.

British fields showed the biggest drop in the quarter, with output down about 270,000 barrels per day to 1.68 million mainly due to maintenance on the Brent, Forties and Magnus fields.