Oil output nearly steady in December despite higher OPEC+ quota

Iraq’s oil production, including output from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, remained almost steady in December, data from State Oil Marketing Organization showed Jan. 10, despite the country having a higher OPEC+ quota for the month.

Oil production rose to 4.225 million b/d in December, a 0.4% uptick from 4.208 million b/d in November, according to SOMO data.

Iraq’s OPEC+ quota in December rose to 4.237 million b/d from 4.193 million b/d in November as members of the 23-member coalition continued to ease their production curbs by 400,000 b/d a month.

Iraq, OPEC’s second largest producer, has a January quota of 4.281 million b/d.

The OPEC+ alliance, which approved on Jan. 4 another 400,000 b/d increase in output quotas for February, is set to meet next on Feb. 2 to decide on March production levels.

Convening every month, OPEC, Russia and several other allies have been gradually rolling back the record production cuts they instated when the market crashed in spring 2020, and hopes to regain its pre-pandemic output levels by late 2022.

Kurdish production drops

Federal Iraq production rose 0.6% to 3.798 million b/d in December from a month earlier, while output from Kurdistan fell by 0.9% to 427,000 b/d, according to SOMO data.

Federal oil exports stood at 3.277 million b/d in December, up marginally from 3.273 million b/d in November, while Kurdish oil exports declined 0.5% to 406,000 b/d.

Iraq’s total oil stocks at the end of December stood at 49,000 b/d, compared with a 9,000 b/d buildup at the end of November.

Total crude burn in December fell to 493,000 b/d from 518,000 b/d in November, SOMO data showed.
Source: Platts