Opec’s monthly oil output at its highest in nearly three years
Oil supply from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) continued to edge upwards in May, hitting its highest rate since August 2012.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report that Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates pumped at record monthly rates, keeping output at more than 1m barrels per day (b/d) above the group’s official supply target.
Despite Opec’s increased contribution, global oil supplies fell by 155,000 b/d due to lower non-Opec output, but were still 3m b/d above the level of May last year. The IEA raised the forecast of non-Opec supply growth for the year to 1m b/d, from 195,000 b/d.
Meanwhile, the estimate of global demand growth has been revised up to 1.4m b/d for the whole of 2015.
The benchmark Brent crude price fell yesterday, to below $65 a barrel, having rallied to above $66 earlier in the week.