OPEC 'maintains' production quota @ 30mbpd

OPEC has maintained its production quota at 30 million barrels per day (bpd) following the conclusion of its 162nd meeting in Vienna, Austria. Member Iraq is yet to be included in the current daily production figure, while Libya would be shortly, it said.

The oil producers group also announced that current Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri's term will be extended for one more year with effect from January 1, 2013 but did not assign any reason for the extension. Under existing norms, an OPEC Secretary General usually steps down after two terms in office.

Sources say, the unexpected move was down to the inability of OPEC members to unite behind a common candidate for the office of Secretary General. The issue has been in the background for some time now.

OPEC said it had reviewed the oil market outlook and the existing supply/demand projections for 2013 in particular. It added that ministers had noted the price volatility witnessed throughout 2012, which in its opinion "remained mostly a reflection of increased levels of speculation in the commodities markets, exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and, latterly, exceptional weather conditions."

It also observed mounting pessimism over the global economic outlook, with downside risks continuing to be presented by the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone, high unemployment in the advanced economies and inflation risk in the emerging economies.

Hence, OPEC delegates noted that although world oil demand is forecast to increase marginally during the year 2013, this is likely to be more than "offset by the projected increase in non-OPEC supply" and that projected demand for OPEC crude in 2013 is expected to contract to 29.7 million bpd. This, it said, was "largely behind" its decision to maintain the current production level.

OPEC added that "member countries would, if necessary, take steps to ensure market balance and reasonable price levels for producers and consumers." In taking this decision, member countries confirmed that they will swiftly respond to developments that might have a detrimental impact on an orderly oil market.

Apart from an extension of el-Badri’s tenure, OPEC has appointed Yasser M. Mufti, Saudi Arabian Governor for OPEC, as Chairman of the Board of Governors for 2013, and Ali Obaid Al Yabhouni, UAE Governor for OPEC, as Alternate Chairman for the same period, also with effect from January 1, 2013. OPEC said its next meeting will convene in Vienna, Austria, on May 31, 2013.

Despite persistent questioning by the assembled scribes about details on individual members' quotas, OPEC did not divulge them or how they will be enforced. That's all from the OPEC HQ! Keep reading, keep it 'crude'!

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Photo:  OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri at the conclusion of162nd OPEC meeting on December 12, 2012, Vienna, Austria © Gaurav Sharma, December 2012.

OPEC 'holds' production at 30 mbpd as expected

OPEC decided to maintain production at 30 million barrels per day (bpd) in line with market expectations following the conclusion of its 161st meeting here in Vienna. Frustrated at unilateral increases in production by Saudi Arabia, the cartel merely noted in a statement that member countries “should adhere to the production ceiling.”

How on earth OPEC will monitor whether (or not) members flout their quota is open to question as individual quotas were shunned last year. All it can do is hope the Saudis, who are currently dovish on the price of crude, decide to cut back.

The Oilholic is reliably informed that five other OPEC members, excluding the usual suspect Iran, urged the Saudis to respect the ceiling and cut back production. At least three oil ministers left OPEC HQ whinging that members ought to respect the production ceiling and that an oil price below US$100 per barrel was unacceptable. Unsurprisingly they hailed from Iran, Algeria and Venezuela. Apparently even the UAE is unhappy but no one from their delegation openly criticised the Saudis at the end of the meeting.

On supply-demand permutations, OPEC noted that although world oil demand is projected to increase slightly during the year, this rise is expected to be mostly offset by the projected increase in non-OPEC supply.

In addition, comfortable OECD stock levels – which presently are below the historical average in terms of absolute volumes but well above the historical norm in terms of days of forward cover – indicate that there has been a “contra-seasonal stock” build in the first quarter 2012 and this overhang is predicted to continue throughout 2012 according to the cartel. Stocks outside the OECD region have also increased. Taking these developments into account, the second half of the year could see a further easing in fundamentals, despite seasonally-higher demand, it said.

OPEC also said it reviewed recent oil market developments, as well as the outlook for the second half of 2012, noting that the heightened price volatility witnessed earlier this year was a reflection of geopolitical tensions and increased levels of speculation in the commodities markets, rather than “solely a consequence of supply/demand fundamentals.”

Furthermore, the cartel observed heightened Eurozone sovereign debts concerns and the consequent weakening economic outlook, with its concomitant lower demand expectation, continue to mount. “These ongoing challenges to world economic recovery, coupled with the presence of ample supply of crude in the market, have led to the marked and steady fall in oil prices over the preceding two months,” it concluded.

Meanwhile no decision has been taken as yet on who would replace OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem al-Badri of Libya with four member countries having proposed candidates – old rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran along with perceived compromise candidates in Iraq and Ecuador. Finally, OPEC will convene for its 162nd meeting in Vienna on December 12, 2012. However, some delegates left suggesting that if economic fundamentals deteriorate further an extraordinary meeting maybe called before December.

On a lighter note, so predictable was the outcome of the 161st meeting, that the Oilholic’s blog post from December 14, 2011 (on the 160th meeting) notched up a quite a few clicks from ‘Googlers’ searching “OPEC outcome” and “30 million bpd” before one could biff out this post. As was the case on December 14, 2011, so it was on June 14, 2012 – the ‘official’ production quota remains capped at 30 million bpd.

This is the first instance since yours truly has been blogging or reporting from OPEC, when the price of the crude stuff has dipped more than 10% over a fiscal quarter and the cartel has not responded with a cut in its output. Given whats going on in the Eurozone, a cooling in India and China and a poor US recovery, Brent is unlikely to find a medium term US$100 price floor. If anyone thought there was a counterweight to the Saudis within OPEC, this outcome is your answer! That’s all for the moment folks. Keep reading, keep it 'crude'!

© Gaurav Sharma 2012. Photo: OPEC Logo, Vienna, Austria © Gaurav Sharma 2012.

OPEC’s 'problem' and Dr. Chalabi’s book

The decision or rather non-decision of not raising the OPEC production quota taken earlier here in Vienna is as damaging for OPEC as it is problematic. A cartel is supposed to show solidarity, but internal sparring awaited the world’s press. The meeting even concluded without a formal production decision or even a communiqué.

It is clear now that those members in favour of a rise in production quota were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE while those against were Algeria, Libya (Gaddafi’s lot), Angola, Venezuela, Iran and Iraq. However, majority of the sparring was between the Saudis on one side and the Iranians and Venezuelans on the other. In the end, it was not only messy but made the cartel look increasingly dysfunctional and an archaic union heading slowly towards geopolitical insignificance. However, what appears on the face of it is not so straightforward.

To followers of crude matters, it is becoming increasingly clear that as in the past, the Saudis will act to raise their production unilaterally, more so because they left Vienna irked by what they saw as Iranian and Venezuelan belligerence. Furthermore, the cartel’s own spare capacity of around 4 million b/d is squarely in the hands of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE. Of these, the Saudis pumped an extra 200,000 b/d last month. Most analysts expect this to be mirrored in their June output and it would imply that the Saudis would be producing at least 1 m b/d over the now largely theoretic OPEC binding quota of 24.85 million b/d.

Almost 41% of the global crude oil output is in the hands of OPEC. If within this close-knit group, there is sparring between those with spare capacity and those without in full view of the world’s press then the cartel’s central purpose takes a hammering. Mighty worried about the negative impact of high prices on GDP growth of their potential export markets and by default on the growth of crude oil demand, the Saudis appeared to the Oilholic to be firm believers that it was in their interest to increase quotas and actual production – so they will raise their own.

Yet I do not totally agree with market conjecture that the “end of OPEC is nigh”. Neither does veteran market commentator Jason Schenker of Prestige Economics. He notes: “Some market mavens have heralded this event as 'The end of OPEC' or 'The beginning of the end of OPEC', we do not believe it. Although no formal production decision was reached, there are precedents for what has been going on with the organisation’s production. After all, the group quota was suspended at the peak of the last business cycle in 2008.”

“Furthermore, and more recently, the individual member county quotas were suspended last October. On a more practical note, group cohesion for affecting production and crude oil prices is less critical when the price of crude is over US$100 per barrel and the global economy is rising, along with oil demand. The division within OPEC is likely to heal, and we are confident that group cohesion will be seen again when prices fall,” he concludes.

Additionally with half of those at the table being newcomers to the job, the situation in Libya and their representative, and an Iranian ‘acting’ oil minister with no experience of OPEC negotiations or of ‘crude’ affairs (he was previously the country’s minister for sport) all combined to complicate the situation as well as infuriate the Saudis. This situation should not arise at the next meeting.

Now if all this has left you yearning for a slice of OPEC’s history – whether you are an observer, derider or admirer of the cartel – there is no better place to start than Dr. Fadhil Chalabi’s latest book Oil policies, oil myths: Observations of an OPEC insider.

If there is any such thing as a ringside view of the wheeling and dealing inside OPEC then Dr. Chalabi more than anyone else had that view. The Oilholic found his book, which serves as the author’s memoir of his time at OPEC as well as charts the history of OPEC and its policies, to be a thoroughly good read.

He was the deputy secretary general of OPEC from 1979-89 and its acting secretary general from 1983-88. The book is, in more ways than one, a coupling of an account of his time at OPEC and an objective analysis of what has transpired in the energy business over last four decades. Looking through either prism - both the book's "memoir aspect" as well as the author's charting of the history of OPEC and its policies, it comes across as a thoroughly good read.

The book is just over 300 pages split by 16 chapters over which the author offers his thoughts in some detail about why OPEC is relevant. He also sets about exploding a few myths about the cartel, what has shaped it and how it has impacted the wider industry as well as the global economy.

To substantiate his case, he offers facts, figures, graphics, a glossary and a noteworthy and useful chronology of key events affecting the oil industry. The world has come a long way from the days when the “Seven Sisters” simply posted the oil prices in Platt’s Oilgram news bulletins. The era of price volatility-free cheap oil ended with the price shock of 1973 in the author’s opinion, before which the world had scarcely heard of OPEC.

Gaddafi’s Libya, Saddam’s Iraq and Nasser’s Egypt are all there but the Oilholic found Chapter 7 narrating the episode when Carlos the Jackal struck OPEC (in 1975) to be riveting, for among the hostages taken by the Jackal was the author himself. The book understandably has many fans at OPEC and officials from member nations as seen in its endorsements. However, what makes it enjoyable is that it is no glorification or advert of the cartel.

Rather it is an objective analysis of how crude oil has shaped the diplomatic relations of OPEC members with the oil-consuming nations globally and by default how an oil exporting cartel’s presence triggered ancillary developments in the crude business. This includes changing the investment perspective of IOCs who began facing dominant NOCs. In summation, if you would like to probe the supposed opacity of OPEC, Dr. Chalabi’s book would be a good starting point.

© Gaurav Sharma 2011. Photo 1: OPEC Flag © Gaurav Sharma 2011, Photo 2: Cover: Oil Policies Oil Myths © I.B. Tauris Publishers. Book available here.

No consensus at OPEC; quota unchanged

In a surprising announcement here in Vienna, OPEC ministers decided not to change the cartel’s production quota contrary to market expectations. At the conclusion of the meeting, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri said the cartel will wait another three months at least before revisiting the subject.

El-Badri also said the crude market was “not in any crisis” and that no extraordinary meeting had been planned. Instead, the ministers would meet as scheduled in December. However, he admitted that there was no consensus at the meeting table with some members in favour of a production hike while some even suggested a cut.

“Waiting (at least) another three months for a review was not to everyone’s liking but the environment around the table was cordial even though it was a difficult decision,” he said after the meeting. However, as expected, he did not reveal which member nations were for or against a decision to hold production at current levels.

El-Badri put OPEC's April production at about 29 million b/d and refused to answer many or rather any questions on Libya except for the conjecture that while Libyan production was not taking place, others can and will make up for the shortfall within and outside of OPEC.

The surprising stalemate at OPEC HQ has seen a near immediate impact on the market. ICE Brent crude oil futures rose to US$118.33, up US$1.55 or 1.3% while WTI futures rose US$1.30 to 100.61 up 1.3% less than 20 minutes after el-Badri spoke.

He added that the environment was cordial, but many suggested that it was anything but. The Saudis left the building in a huff with minister Ali al-Naimi describing it as the "worst meeting they have attended."

The analyst community is surprised but only mildly with many opining that the Saudis may well go it alone. Jason Schenker, President & Chief Economist of Prestige Economics says, “I think that what we have witnessed today is very similar to the group’s quota suspensions in the past. High volatility in the markets is clearly visible and there was no consensus at the meeting table about how to respond. At the end of the day, most OPEC member countries are going to react to what we have seen today as they see fit. Atop the list are the Saudis – the OPEC heavyweights - who will react as they always do and go it alone.”

Ehsan Ul-Haq, an analyst with KBC Energy Economics agrees with Jason. “Quite simply, if the Saudis want more oil on the market, they don’t need the Iranians, they don’t need the Venezuelans; they can and now probably will do it alone."

No wonder the new man at the table – the meeting’s President Mohammad Aliabadi of Iran spoke of a “nervous” two quarters for the oil market. The Oilholic felt this 159th ordinary meeting would be ‘extraordinary’ and so it has turned out to be. Venezuela, Iran and Algeria reportedly refused to raise production with a Gaddafi-leaning Libyan delegation backing their calls.

Meanwhile, the latest Statistical Review of World Energy published by BP earlier today with an impeccable sense of timing, noted that consumption of oil appreciated on an annualised basis at the highest rate seen since 2004. Christof Ruhl, BP group's chief economist, puts the latest growth rate at 3.1%.

According to BP, much of the increased demand for oil continued to come from China where consumption rose by over 10% or 860,000 b/d. The report also notes the continued decline of the North Sea with Norway, followed by the UK, topping the production dip charts. The take hike announced in the recent UK budget is not going to help stem the decline.

© Gaurav Sharma 2011. Photo: OPEC logo © Gaurav Sharma 2008

Buzz at Central Bank of Oil Before 1600 CET

Ahead of the OPEC decision, prices for the forward month ICE Brent and NYMEX WTI futures contracts have fallen by US$2-3 on average over two weeks if the last fortnight is taken into consideration. That is largely down to the fact that traders have begun to factor in a possible increase in OPEC crude production quotas in the run up to the meeting here in Vienna today.

For the purposes of a price check, at 11:00am CET, ICE Brent is trading at US$116.26 down 0.5% or 16 cents, while WTI is down 99 cents or 1% at US$98.46. Additionally, the OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at US$110.66 on Tuesday, compared with US$110.99 the previous day according to OPEC Secretariat calculations this morning.

Mike Wittner of Société Générale notes that if an increase in OPEC quota is made from a starting point of actual production, rather than the previous quota, it is that much more real, that much more serious, and potentially that much more bearish, at least in the short term.

“In contrast, if OPEC were to increase quotas by 1.5 million b/d, but versus previous quotas and not actual production, all they would be doing would be legitimising recent/current overproduction versus the old quota,” he adds.

Most analysts including Wittner and those present here believe a physical increase would be coming our way. Speaking of analysts, it is always a pleasure meeting Jason Schenker, President & Chief Economist of Prestige Economics at these OPEC meetings. He’s to be credited for describing OPEC as the Central Bank of Oil. The Oilholic heartily agrees and could not have put it better. Schenker believes OPEC is looking at the medium term picture and not just the next few months.

“As anticipated if there is a production hike today, the thinking at the “Central Bank of Oil” would be that it could carry them across to the end of Q4 2011 perhaps without facing or acting upon further calls for alterations of production quotas,” he says.

On a somewhat 'crude' but unrelated footnote, hearing about my recent visit to Alberta, Canada, Jason agrees there are a whole lot of crude opportunities for Canadians to be excited about. It would not be easy and it is certainly not cheap. But then cheap oil has long gone – this not so cheap resource is in a safe neutral country. Furthermore, one must never say never, but Canadians are not exactly queuing up to join OPEC any time soon (or ever).

Finally on a totally unrelated footnote, one can see the “Made in UK” label at OPEC HQ – it’s the paper cups near the water dispenser - not something extracted from the North Sea.

© Gaurav Sharma 2011. Photo: Oil well in Oman © Royal Dutch Shell

Arriving at the not so ‘Ordinary’ OPEC meeting

The Oilholic probably has to go back to Q1 2008 when an OPEC meeting last generated as much interest as the soon to be held 159th Ordinary meeting of the cartel here in Vienna. Interest of this magnitude usually gains traction when the cartel contemplates an alteration of production quotas. Initial signals are that come 1600 CET tomorrow, we could see a rise in the OPEC member nations’ quotas by 0.5 to 1.5 million b/d.

Such talk has intensified in the three weeks leading up to the meeting. OPEC’s May crude oil production report notes that the cartel’s total crude output was 28.99 million b/d. If Iraq, which is not subject to OPEC quotas at present, is excluded, then the production came in at 26.33 million b/d, or 1.5 million b/d higher than the quota of 24.8 million b/d as set in Q4 2008.

This begs the question, what would the increase be like in real terms – i.e. would it be an increase in paper targets (to which methinks not a lot of attention would or should be paid by the markets) or would it be an increase over the already existing, but not officially acknowledged physical production levels. If it is the latter, then that would be something and Société Générale's Mike Wittner reckons it would be a physical increment rather than a paper one.

Furthermore, in a note to clients, Wittner observes: “Before analysing what OPEC is thinking about, why it will probably increase quotas, and what the dangers are of doing so, it is very important to note the latest signal regarding the meeting. Early Monday evening (EST), it was reported that the Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper, based in London, quoted an unnamed source as saying that if OPEC decides to lift its output by more than 1 million b/d, Saudi Arabia’s production will reach about 10 million b/d during the summer period, when its domestic demand increases. This compares to around 8.9 - 9.0 million b/d in May, according to preliminary wire service estimates, with an increase of 0.2 - 0.3 million b/d expected in June, according to various sources."

The initial feelers here seem to be following the norm. The Saudis for instance, according to various media reports, would increase production anyway even if an increase is not announced. Approach of the others is more nuanced while some would suggest there are bigger factors at play rather than a straight cut decision on production.

Earlier today, following a meeting at 1600 CET, a ministerial monitoring sub-committee comprising of ministers from Algeria, Kuwait and Nigeria overseen by the OPEC secretariat proposed a 1 million b/d increment to the existing quotas. This could be a harbinger of what may follow tomorrow. However, few here expect anything other than stiff resistance to an increase in quotas by Iran and Venezuela.

Both countries have provided interesting sideshows. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked his oil minister and seized control of his ministry ahead of the meeting. He then appointed his close ally Mohammad Aliabadi as caretaker oil minister after parliament and Iran's constitutional watchdog said the president had no right to head the ministry.

Oilholic regrets that he knows little about the right honourable Aliabadi who has precious little experience of oily matters. Guess being greasily close to Ahmadinejad is a resume builder in that part of the world. Additionally, Venezuela is to complain about US sanctions on PDVSA.

Meanwhile, crude oil futures rose slightly either side of the pond following concerns that OPEC’s spare capacity will tighten pending on what happens tomorrow. OPEC had 5.94 million b/d in spare capacity in May, down 2.7 per cent from April, based on Bloomberg estimates. Spare capacity was 6.31 million barrels a day in March, the highest level since May 2009.

The official line from OPEC as of this evening is – “We’ll pump more if needs be.” But do we? Tracking arrivals of OPEC ministers in Austria one by one since 09:00 CET not one has said much about what may happen on this occasion. Based on past experience that is always a sign that something will happen.

© Gaurav Sharma 2011. Photo: Empty OPEC Press conference table © Gaurav Sharma 2011

Final Thoughts From the 157th OPEC Conference

Alongside Thursday’s decision by OPEC to hold its official oil production target at 24.84 million barrels a day, i.e. the level set following a production cut in December 2008; the cartel also noted that global oil demand had dipped in two concurrent years; a situation unseen since the 1980s.

It bemoaned the “rollercoaster” ride in crude prices, particularly between Q4 2007 and Q1 2009. As usual speculators were blamed, with OPEC noting that oil had increasingly emerged as an asset class, with “excessive speculation adding appreciably to market volatility.”

It also appears that the cartel is irked by renewable energy initiatives or at least the talk of renewable energy. OPEC believes that the ambiguity of a number of energy and environmental policies, often with “evidently over-ambitious targets”, particularly in developed regions, has led to uncertainty in regards to future oil demand requirements.

The 158th OPEC conference would be held in Quito, Ecuador on December 11th, where the cartel hopes to publish its Long Term Strategy, as discussed by its 12 member nations here in Vienna on Thursday. Following that, OPEC would meet again in June 2011 in Vienna.

In a surprise move, it was confirmed Iran would assume OPEC presidency in January 2011; it last held the post in 1975. And last but not the least, there is finally a lady at the OPEC table – Nigeria's petroleum minister - Diezani Kogbeni Alison-Madueke, who having been a Shell executive took a certain amount of delight in telling the assembled press scrum that she had been in male dominated industries before and pretty much held her own!

To summarise, OPEC – in line with prevailing sentiment – noted that the market remains well supplied and given the downside risk to the global economy, did not feel the need to raise production.

That’s it from Vienna – time to say Auf Wiedersehen!

© Gaurav Sharma 2010. Photo: Nigeria's petroleum minister Diezani Kogbeni Alison-Madueke (Centre), © Gaurav Sharma, OPEC 157th Conference, Vienna, Oct 14, 2010

OPEC Leaves Production Levels Unchanged!

As widely expected, OPEC announced on Thursday that its members have agreed to keep its official oil production target at 24.84 million barrels a day. OPEC president Wilson Pastor-Morris said that the policy in place since December 2008, when it announced a record supply cut of 4.2 million barrels per day, is here to stay.

The cartel will next meet on December 11 in Quito, Ecuador to discuss the issue again. Despite being by pressed by journalists, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri insisted that individual members' quotas need not be published. “We know how each country behaves, the market should be happy with total quotas,” he said.

He added, the ever present issue of compliance with quotas, was an important one. By OPEC's own assement compliance was at 61% but a Reuters report puts the figure at 57%. In an interesting development - perhaps the only surprise of the day - OPEC announced that Iran will take over the rotating presidency of OPEC in 2011 for the first time in 36 years. Iranian petroleum minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi assumes the presidency from January 2011; watch this space!

© Gaurav Sharma 2010. Photo: © Gaurav Sharma, OPEC 157th Meeting, Vienna, Oct 14, 2010

OPEC Holds Production as Crude Nears $82.50

In line with market expectations, oil cartel OPEC held its current daily production output quota at 24.845 million barrels following the conclusion of its meeting in Vienna.

In a statement the cartel noted that production increases among oil exporting countries that were not part of OPEC would offset rising global demand for oil. Clarifying its stand, OPEC said that although world oil demand is projected to increase marginally during the year, this rise will be more than offset by the expected increase in non-OPEC supply, meaning that 2010 is likely to witness a decline in the demand for OPEC crude oil for the third consecutive year.

The cartel added that the persistently high OECD stock levels (estimated to currently stand at 59-61 days of forward cover i.e. well above their five-year average) indicate that there has been a contra-seasonal stock build in the first quarter 2010 and the overhang in terms of forward cover is expected to continue throughout the year.

Furthermore, market commentators also believe that OPEC member nations already flout their set quota cap. Overall compliance of quotas is thought to be in the circa of 52% to 58% depending on whom you speak to in the City.

OPEC president, Germanico Pinto, said that while an improvement was seen in the oil market outlook in recent months, there was some way to go before the cartel could feel at ease with the situation. In case the markets get unstable, the cartel stands ready, “to swiftly respond to any developments which might place oil market stability in jeopardy.”

Despite the predictability of the announcement, markets responded with a customary spike largely fuelled by a weaker U.S. Dollar. NYMEX light sweet crude was up 77 cents at $82.47 a barrel, nearing the $82.50 barrier. Concurrently, in London Brent crude was up by 72 cents to $81.25 a barrel on ICE Europe. Next meeting of the cartel is set for Oct 14, 2010 in Vienna.

© Gaurav Sharma 2010. Photo Courtesy © Royal Dutch Shell