Crude oil production by the 12 OPEC members, including Iraq, in November fell below the collective 30mn b/d target in place since January 2012. A MEES survey of OPEC’s production showed output of 29.751mn b/d, down by 490,000 b/d from October and the lowest figure since June 2011.

Saudi Arabia cut output by 200,000 b/d whilst Libyan outages deepened (see p2) and Nigerian output also fell. There were also slight declines from Kuwait and the UAE due to field maintenance. Excluding Iraq, which saw a 70,000 b/d rise, the 11 other members produced 26.65mn b/d, down 560,000 b/d on October. (CONTINUED - 1328 WORDS)