OPEC December Crude Output Slips as Global Prices Tumble – Bloomberg.
Oil production by the 12 OPEC nations slipped less than 1 percent in December, the first month after the group refused to cut output as crude prices tumbled, a Bloomberg survey showed.
Output by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries fell 122,000 barrels a day, or 0.4 percent, to 30.239 million last month, led by declines in Saudi Arabia,Libya and the United Arab Emirates, according to the survey of oil companies, producers and analysts.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate futures dropped to the lowest levels since May 2009 yesterday, capping the worst year since 2008. OPEC left its production quotas unchanged at a Nov. 27 meeting in Vienna, prompting speculation that the group will let crude slide low enough to slow U.S. production that’s climbed to the highest level in three decades.
