OPEC Nov crude output rises to 30.5-mil b/d: PetroLogistics

London (Platts)--1Dec2004

OPEC crude production rose by 200,000 b/d, or almost 1%, in November as Saudi
Arabia and other members of the cartel pumped more than their official output
ceiling in a bid to lower near-record prices, estimates from consulting firm
PetroLogistics showed Wednesday. 

Output by the 11-nation group reached
30.5-mil b/d last month, up from a revised estimate of 30.3-mil b/d in Oct,
said Conrad Gerber, head of the Geneva-based company, which assesses OPEC oil
output by tracking tanker shipments. Most OPEC members have been flouting
their output quotas in recent months as crude prices soared to record highs
because of faster-than-expected growth in demand led by China and the US., and
real and threatened supply disruptions in nations including Iraq, Russia and
Nigeria. The ten OPEC countries with output quotas, all except Iraq, produced
28.3-mil-b/d in Nov, or 1.3-mil b/d more than their quota for November, the
PetroLogistics estimate showed.

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