Trend:
Global oil production rose by only 0.4 million barrels per day (Mb/d) in 2016, the slowest growth since 2013, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.
BP analysts said that production outside the Middle East fell by 1.3 Mb/d, with the largest declines in the US (-400,000 b/d), China (-310,000 b/d) and Nigeria (-280,000 b/d).
The weakness on the supply side was driven by non-OPEC production which fell by 0.8 Mb/d, its largest decline for almost 25 years, said the report.
“This fall was led by US tight oil, whose production fell 0.3 Mb/d, a swing of almost 1 Mb/d relative to growth in 2015. China also experienced its largest ever decline in oil production (-0.3 Mb/d),” said BP. “In contrast, OPEC production recorded another year of solid growth (1.2 Mb/d), with Iran (0.7 Mb/d), Iraq (0.4 Mb/d) and Saudi Arabia (0.4 Mb/d) more than accounting for the increase.”
Earlier, the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) said in its report that OPEC crude oil production is expected to average 32.3 million barrels per day in 2017 and 32.8 million barrels per day in 2018.
On May 25, OPEC member countries and non-OPEC parties, Azerbaijan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Sultanate of Oman, the Russian Federation, Republic of Sudan, and the Republic of South Sudan agreed to extend the production adjustments for a further period of nine months, with effect from July 1, 2017.
The reductions will be on the same terms as those agreed in November.