OPEC Core’s Crude Exports Slip Even as Output Curbs Are Eased - Bloomberg

OPEC Core’s Crude Exports Slip Even as Output Curbs Are Eased - Bloomberg

Oil shipments from OPEC’s Persian Gulf producers slipped last month, even as output restrictions were eased and production volumes increased.

Combined shipments of crude and condensate -- a light form of oil extracted from gas fields -- from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait were almost 430,000 barrels a day lower in January than in December. The UAE was the only one of the group to boost shipments last month, vessel-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg show.

The four Persian Gulf nations shipped a total of 13.59 million barrels a day of crude and condensate last month. With 29 million barrels, equivalent to about 940,000 barrels a day, on ships yet to signal a final destination, the volumes delivered to individual countries could rise significantly.

The biggest drop came from Saudi Arabia, where shipments fell by 688,000 barrels a day, or 10%, to their lowest level since August. It reversed the previous month’s increase and was the biggest month-on-month decline since June, when the kingdom implemented a unilateral output cut of 1 million barrels a day.