NT: OPEC's monthly roundup puts the boot into oil prices again
OPEC yesterday said that it expects oil production by nations outside the group to fall next year by more than it previously forecast, in a sign that its audacious strategy might be working at last.
Supplies from OPEC inched up by 50,000 in November to 31.73 million barrels per day as record production from Iraq and higher supply from Kuwait offset losses from African members, the IEA said.
"For 2016, global oil demand growth is expected to increase by around 1.25 mb/d, unchanged from the previous report, averaging 94.13 mb/d", OPEC said.
"2016 demand will be weaker and at the same time we may well see Iran come to the market if the sanctions are lifted".
Brent for January settlement slid as much as 35 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to US$39.38 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Sustained falls in output could help to stabilise the price of oil, although some market forecasters suggest the price could continue to fall to as low as $20 a barrel. Demand growth will likely slow to 1.23 million bpd in 2016 from a five-year high of 1.79 million bpd in 2015 as support from sharply falling oil prices begins to fade.
The low oil prices on Friday strongly weighed down on U.S. share prices.
OPEC's report follows its acrimonious meeting on Dec 4, where it rolled over a policy of pumping crude without restraint.
US crude futures fell to their lowest level since February 2009 in the USA morning session, before rallying slightly just before the close.
But OPEC also increased its 2015 non-OPEC supply growth forecast by 280,000 bpd, citing upward revisions to output from the United States, Brazil, Russia and the UK, among other countries.
In Europe, refineries increased their oil intake in November by 4 percent from a year earlier leading to a rise of more than 10 percent in middle distillates stocks which include gasoil and diesel, according to industry monitor Euroilstock.
OPEC's daily output has eclipsed its production ceiling of 30 million barrels per day by at least 1 million for the majority of the year.
