Supply Outages in OPEC Countries Push Up Oil Prices
However, the speculators are not entirely off base. While the underlying fundamentals still look pretty grim, there are some tangible impacts taking place in the world of oil supply and demand that are contributing to that bullish sentiment. First, probably the most closely watched stream of data comes from U.S. shale, which is posting steady declines each week.
But more recent data shows unexpected supply outages from several OPEC members, disruptions that have trimmed the group’s collective output by nearly 200,000 barrels per day.
Related: Largest U.S. Refinery Now Belongs To Saudi Arabia
Iraq lost somewhere between 260,000 and 320,000 barrels per day in February, according to OPEC data. The IEA estimated that Iraqi oil production fell by a more modest 210,000 barrels per day in February compared to a month earlier. To be sure, Iraq hit an all-time high in January at 4.43 million barrels per day (mb/d), and still is producing nearly 900,000 barrels per day more than a year ago. But the outage is not trivial.
(Click to enlarge)
A pipeline outage in Kurdistan temporarily knocked off 600,000 barrels per day beginning on February 17, a pipeline that runs from Iraq to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan in Turkey. According to Reuters, Turkey’s energy minister said that the pipeline was originally shuttered on February 17 due to security concerns, and that the pipeline was subsequently damaged by an attack from PKK rebels on February 25. However, the PKK denies it participated in any attack. In any event, Turkey began repairs on the pipeline, which it estimated would take a few weeks.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
