OPEC output April output down 1.42 MBPD: Survey

OPEC's eleven members pumped an overall 26.36 million barrels per day (MBPD) in April, down 1.42MBPD, a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials released Monday said.

According to the survey, the output drop was due mainly to Iraqi production being halted by war for most of the month. The survey estimated Iraqi production, which resumed towards the end of May, at an average 50,000 BPD. Excluding Iraq, output from the ten members with quotas fell to 26.31MBPD in April from 26.34MBPD in March.

Among the OPEC ten, output cutbacks totaling 440,000 BPD were almost completely offset by 410,000 BPD in increases.

Saudi Arabia accounted for the biggest single cut -- 260,000 BPD, reining in production from 9.46MBPD in March to 9.2MBPD in April. Other smaller cuts came from Indonesia (10,000 BPD), Iran (80,000 BPD), Nigeria (80,000 BPD) and the UAE (80,000 BPD). Venezuela accounted for the biggest single increase -- 390,000 BPD, with smaller increases from Algeria and Libya (10,000 BPD each).

The survey showed that the OPEC ten exceeded their current 24.5MBPD production ceiling by 1.81MBPD. "For all intents and purposes the current ceiling became redundant when OPEC announced at its April 24 meeting its new higher ceiling of 25.4MBPD," said John Kingston, global director of oil at Platts. "The new ceiling, even though it doesn't come into effect until June, has become the new target for OPEC."

To meet the new ceiling, the OPEC ten will have to shave output by 910,000 BPD. Saudi Arabia alone will have to slash its production by nearly 1MBPD to meet its June 1 quota of 8.256MBPD.

But not all countries are capable of meeting their new June quotas. Indonesia, whose output is declining, will not be able to pump anywhere near the new 1.317MBPD quota it has been allocated under a pro rata distribution. It pumped just over 1MBPD in April.

Venezuelan production has recovered strongly after a crippling oil strike, but the 2.67MBPD it is estimated to have produced in April falls well short of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela's claims that output has risen beyond 3MBPD. Its quota rises from 2.819MBPD currently to 2.923MBPD in June. (alex/robert)

Country-by-country breakdown of production with figures in millions of b/d:
Country	Apr 03	Mar 03	Feb 03	Jan 03	Feb 03 Quota	June 03 Quota
Algeria	1.120	1.110	1.050	1.020	0.782	0.811
Indonesia	1.030	1.040	1.080	1.080	1.270	1.317
Iran	3.680	3.760	3.690	3.620	3.597	3.729
Iraq	0.050	1.440	2.510	2.500	N/A	N/A
Kuwait	2.300	2.300	2.000	2.000	1.966	2.038
Libya	1.420	1.410	1.400	1.390	1.312	1.360
Nigeria	1.850	1.930	2.180	2.150	2.018	2.092
Qatar	0.760	0.760	0.750	0.730	0.635	0.658
Saudi Arabia	9.200	9.460	8.740	8.470	7.963	8.256
UAE	2.280	2.290	2.140	2.100	2.138	2.217
Venezuela	2.670	2.280	1.490	0.650	2.819	2.923
Total	26.360	27.780	27.030	25.710	N/A	N/A
OPEC 10 (excluding IRAQ)	26.310	26.340	24.520	23.210	24.500	25.400