Gulf OPEC Big Three Raise Aug Oil Output By 400,000 bpd

Oil output by the big three Gulf producers saw a net increase of around 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August from July as a sharp rise in Kuwaiti output outweighed cuts by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, industry sources said.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE both cut their production by around 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, to 9.7 million bpd and 2.7 million bpd, respectively, according to Gulf industry sources.

But top producer Saudi Arabia used 100,000 bpd from storage to offer crude supplies to the market of 9.8 million bpd, while Gulf-OPEC ally Kuwait ramped up production by around 600,000 bpd to three million bpd in August.

In July, Saudi Arabia pumped 9.8 million bpd from its oil wells but put about 100,000 bpd into storage, leaving 9.7 million bpd available for all consumers. Export figures are not available.

The UAE produced 2.7 million bpd last month, down by around 100,000 bpd from July, but increased demand mainly from Asia prompted Kuwait to raise production by around 25 per cent above July’s production of approximately 2.4 million bpd.

OPEC ministers agreed in mid-June they should adhere to a collective output limit of 30 million bpd, which implied Gulf oil producers would have to trim their production from levels seen in early 2012.

But production by Gulf states remains high and supply from the 12-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) averaged 31.53 million bpd in August, up from 31.30 million bpd in July, according to a Reuters survey.