OPEC Oil Production Rose in November, Says Information Group

On Monday, Platts -- a leading global provider of energy and commodities information -- announced that the overall oil production by the 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rose to 31.15 million barrels per day in November.

This is up 40,000 b/d from October's production of 31.11 million b/d. Greater volumes from Saudi Arabia and Iraq aided in offsetting a large field maintenance-related drop in United Arab Emirates (UAE) output.

Most of OPEC's members raised their production from October in November.

Saudi Arabia pumped an average 9 million b/d last month, up 200,000 b/d from its recent production levels. Iraq's output for the month rose by 120,000 b/d in to 2.4 million b/d, the highest levels since the start of the war in 2003.

The field maintenance that disrupted some UAE production had been anticipated by the marketplace.

OPEC ministers, who met in Abu Dhabi on December 5th, decided to maintain current output limits. These are set at 27.253 million b/d for the OPEC-10. They will meet again in Vienna on February 1st, 2008.

"For consumers, it's encouraging to see Saudi Arabia above the 9 million barrel per day mark...[W]e had seen some signs that more oil was coming on the market, with one of the most visible indicators being the rise in tanker freight rates. That was an indication that more ships were being chartered to move more oil...It's also encouraging to see the sustained improvement out of Iraq," said Platts Global Director of Oil John Kingston.

On Monday, crude oil futures contracts fell for the second consecutive trading day on the New York Mercantile Exchange with the news that U.S. stockpiles are likely higher than formerly anticipated.

Crude oil for January delivery fell 53 cents to $87.75 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the Exchange. That contract had fallen $1.95 (2.2%) to $88.28 on Friday. Crude oil's highest ever price per barrel was realized on November 21st when it hit $99.21. Last week, crude oil traded as low as $85.82.

Investors are driving down the price of oil as anticipated demand estimates fall and they look to sell their futures contracts.

Secretary General Abdalla el-Badri of OPEC said at the last meeting that the cartel's spare output capacity lies between three and four million barrels per day. Experts say that global demand for oil will likely only rise by no more than two percent in 2008.

They also anticipate oil prices remaining between $85 and $95 per barrel through the Winter, depending on how cold temperatures get.

Gasoline prices are down an average of 11 cents per gallon from their prices reached in mid-to-late November.

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