Industry at a glance
During its Sept. 11 meeting, OPEC agreed to a new production ceiling of 27.2 million bpd, this includes 500,000 barrels a day of fresh oil on the market, the first increase in over two years. OPEC’s decision reverses output cuts agreed to late last year that cumulatively removed about 1 million bpd off the global markets. The decision came about amid concerns about record high oil prices, which have reached yet another record level in September. World oil supply fell by 430,000 barrels a day to 84.6 million bpd in August and demand has been slightly revised down to 85.9 million bpd in 2007 and 88.0 million bpd in 2008. Downward revisions to the second half of 2007 reflect weaker-than anticipated data in June and July. OPEC crude production fell by 40,000 barrels per day in August; however, 10 members bound by production agreements boosted output by 80,000 barrels per day. |