Page 5 - AsianOil Week 49

AsianOil ASIA-PACIFIC AsianOil

commitment and said that the cartel would Iraqi compliance with the deal, Jabbar said
make a “relentless quest” to ensure com- that Kurdish exports would average 250,000
pliance. Meanwhile, he asked for media to bpd, which would assume a more than 40%
stop seeing OPEC+ as Star Wars of Game of reduction on current levels.
Thrones, underlining that overall compliance According to an internal OPEC document
with historic production cuts is 99.5%. seen by S&P Global Platts, Iraq’s January tar-
Quota exemptions will continue for Iran, get will be 3.857mn bpd, up 53,000 bpd from
Venezuela and Libya, with Prince Abdulaziz say- the country’s quota between August and
ing that despite the latter’s rampant production December.
increase following a ceasefire, it would remain While Jabbar noted that Iraq’s intention is
exempt until political stability had returned. to raise prices rather than sales volumes, the
country’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime
Compliance in the crosshairs Minister Ali Allawi has publicly questioned the
Iraqi export data was published shortly after the long-term feasibility of maintaining the status
announcement and should provide encourage- quo of restraining oil production while the gov-
ment for OPEC, with November sales having ernment operates at a monthly deficit of around
fallen by around 134,000 bpd during the month $3bn.
– a start, though far short of the compensatory It is worth noting that Jabbar has repeatedly
cuts promised. reiterated Iraq’s commitment to the cuts, though
Data from the MoO showed that southern compliance has continued to be poor.
(federal) exports averaged 2.709mn bpd in Meanwhile, with Iraq set to launch its new
November, down from 2.876mn bpd in Octo- Basrah Medium crude grade in January and
ber, while sales by the Kurdistan Regional Gov- the UAE having already embarked on an initi-
ernment (KRG) rose to 435,000 bpd, up from ative to make its Murban crude a benchmark to
401,000 bpd the previous month. strengthen the Emirates’ position as the region’s
However, the drop in exports is expected to financial hub, it is perhaps unsurprising that
be short-lived, with Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul these countries will continue to be the main areas
Jabbar saying over the weekend that federal of concern for OPEC over the coming months.
sales would amount to 2.8mn bpd in Decem- In any case, the cartel and its non-OPEC allies
ber, but noted that the country would abide will be hoping that the roll-out of an anti-coro-
by the terms of the latest OPEC+ agreement. navirus (COVID-19) vaccine will stimulate sig-
Perhaps optimistically with regard to total nificantly greater oil demand in 2021.™

Week 49 10•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5