OPEC crude output rises

LONDON: OPEC crude oil output rose in August as Iranian shipments climbed slightly from its lowest in more than two decades and because of higher exports from Angola and Nigeria, a Reuters survey showed.
Supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries averaged 31.53 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 31.30 million bpd in July, the survey of sources at oil companies, OPEC officials and analysts found.
The most notable trend in August is the lack of a further decline in Iranian exports, which have dropped sharply this year due to US and European sanctions. Supply rose by 50,000 bpd in August, according to the survey, to 2.85 million bpd.
Iran’s crude became subject to a European Union embargo from July 1. The embargo also bars EU insurance firms from covering Iran’s exports, hindering imports by non-EU buyers.
More crude is heading in August to some Asian customers such as Japan, where government-backed shipping insurance has encouraged purchases despite the EU sanctions, sources in the survey said.
However, Iran’s supply remains near a historic low. July’s output was its lowest since 1988, when it pumped 2.24 million bpd, according to figures from the US Energy Information Administration.
Angolan and Nigerian exports, which both tend to be volatile on a month-by-month basis, climbed in August, pushing total OPEC production higher.
Angolan shipments reached a 2 1/2-year high due to extra cargoes of some crude grades and completion of maintenance at the Girassol oilfield, one of its larger production facilities.
Japan imported some crude oil from Iran in July, customs-cleared Ministry of Finance data showed despite stopping the loading of crude from Iran in June to avoid running afoul of an EU ban on insuring Iranian cargoes.
Japanese buyers stopped loading cargoes in early June to avoid vessels sailing the final part of their journeys to Japan uninsured in early July, before the European Union sanctions kicked in on July 1.
Japan, Iran’s third-biggest buyer, imported 624,585 kiloliters of crude from Iran last month, down 52.5 percent from the same month a year earlier.
The imports were unexpected and may be attributable to a delay in customs clearance on a cargo that arrived in Japan in late June.