Page 12 - NorthAmOil Week 49

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

Prince Abdulaziz said that the compensatory of the latest OPEC+ agreement. Perhaps opti-
scheme had not been as successful as the group mistically with regard to total Iraqi compliance
had hoped, but added that members had given with the deal, Jabbar said that Kurdish exports
“many assurances” about their commitment would average 250,000 bpd, which would
and said that the cartel would make a “relent- assume a more than 40% reduction on current
less quest” to ensure compliance. Meanwhile, levels.
he asked for media to stop seeing OPEC+ as According to an internal OPEC document
Star Wars or Game of Thrones, underlining that seen by S&P Global Platts, Iraq’s January tar-
overall compliance with historic production get will be 3.857mn bpd, up 53,000 bpd from
cuts is 99.5%. the country’s quota between August and
Quota exemptions will continue for Iran, December.
Venezuela and Libya, with Prince Abdulaziz While Jabbar noted that Iraq’s intention is
saying that despite the latter’s rampant pro- to raise prices rather than sales volumes, the
duction increase following a ceasefire, it would country’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Quota exemptions
remain exempt until political stability had Minister Ali Allawi has publicly questioned the
returned. long-term feasibility of maintaining the status will continue for
quo of restraining oil production while the gov- Iran, Venezuela
Compliance in the crosshairs ernment operates at a monthly deficit of around
Iraqi export data was published shortly after the $3bn. and Libya.
announcement and should provide encourage- It is worth noting that Jabbar has repeatedly
ment for OPEC, with November sales having reiterated Iraq’s commitment to the cuts, though
fallen by around 134,000 bpd during the month compliance has continued to be poor.
– a start, though far short of the compensatory Meanwhile, with Iraq set to launch its new
cuts promised. Basrah Medium crude grade in January and
Data from the MoO showed that southern the UAE having already embarked on an
(federal) exports averaged 2.709mn bpd in initiative to make its Murban crude a bench-
November, down from 2.876mn bpd in Octo- mark to strengthen the Emirates’ position as
ber, while sales by the Kurdistan Regional Gov- the region’s financial hub, it is perhaps unsur-
ernment (KRG) rose to 435,000 bpd, up from prising that these countries will continue to
401,000 bpd the previous month. be the main areas of concern for OPEC over
However, the drop in exports is expected to the coming months. In any case, the cartel and
be short-lived, with Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul its non-OPEC allies will be hoping that the
Jabbar saying over the weekend that federal sales roll-out of an anti-coronavirus (COVID-19)
would amount to 2.8mn bpd in December, but vaccine will stimulate significantly greater oil
noted that the country would abide by the terms demand in 2021.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 10•December•2020