Iraq’s crude oil production hit 4.6 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, the highest since 2019, data from the International Energy Agency’s monthly report showed on Friday, as OPEC’s second-largest producer hiked output by 540,000 bpd from September.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia also boosted their October crude oil output compared to September, as rising volumes of oil are leaving the Strait of Hormuz on smaller tankers, which then transfer the crude cargoes onto supertankers in the Gulf of Oman.
Iraq’s October crude oil production topped its OPEC+ quota by about 170,000 bpd, showed the data in the IEA’s Oil Market Report for November.
Kuwait also boosted its crude oil production last month, from 1.58 million bpd in September to 2.03 million bpd in October, although the Gulf producer was still about 650,000 bpd short of its OPEC+ ceiling.
OPEC’s top producer and de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, hiked crude oil production by about 1 million bpd to 9.99 million bpd, up from 8.93 million bpd in September, according to IEA data.
Per the agency’s estimates, Saudi Arabia was still producing 480,000 bpd below its OPEC+ quota in October.
The Kingdom told OPEC that it pumped 10.563 million bpd in October, back near pre-war levels and slightly above its OPEC+ quota of about 10.5 million bpd. The Saudis, however, noted in OPEC’s monthly report that part of the jump in output went straight into storage, which means Saudi supply to the market for exports didn’t soar as much as production did.
Saudi Arabia’s supply to the market (domestic and overseas) was 7.122 million bpd in August, 7.988 million bpd in September, and 9.2 million bpd in October, while production was 6.238 million bpd in August, rising to 8.372 million bpd in September, and to 10.563 million bpd in October.
Gulf producers have ramped up crude oil production in recent weeks as crude oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have significantly increased since August, thanks to shuttle shipments through the chokepoint.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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