OPEC Output May Be Stretched to Limit by Supply Crises, IEA Says - Bloomberg

OPEC Output May Be Stretched to Limit by Supply Crises, IEA Says - Bloomberg:

OPEC’s Gulf members may need to pump almost as much crude as they can to cover swelling supply losses from Venezuela to Iran and beyond, the International Energy Agency said.

Saudi Arabia might have to draw harder than ever before on its spare production capacity as a spiraling economic crisis in Venezuela, renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran and disruptions in Libya strain global markets, the agency predicted.

“Rising production from Middle East Gulf countries and Russia, welcome though it is, comes at the expense of the world’s spare-capacity cushion, which might be stretched to the limit,” the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly report. “This vulnerability currently underpins oil prices and seems likely to continue doing so.”