Oil producers will continue to pump relentlessly if OPEC fails to cut output
The amount of oil hitting world markets will continue to grow relentlessly if OPEC fails to agree production cuts, the International Energy Agency has warned.
And making the proposed cuts a reality will be very difficult.
“We can see the scale of the task ahead,” said the Paris-based agency.
OPEC agreed in principle to cut oil production at a meeting in September, and the group’s experts are working on a deal that would allocate production targets to individual members ahead of its next gathering on Nov. 30.
The reductions will have to be significant. IEA data show that October was another record-breaking month for the cartel, with crude output increasing by 230,000 barrels a day to more than 33.8 million barrels a day.
The agency said all of the cartel’s members except Saudi Arabia are now pumping close to their total production capacity.
Nigeria saw the biggest increase in output in October, while supply in Iraq reached the highest levels on record.
Oil prices have been hovering around $45 per barrel, but OPEC is hoping that they will rise to between $50 and $60 per barrel. Anything higher than that could encourage other producers — like U.S. shale companies — to restart operations.
