Crude oil: OPEC production rising. The IEA said that OPEC production jumped to 33.8 million barrels per day in October, up 230,000 barrels per day from the previous month. OPEC issued similar numbers in its report released on Friday. That could mean that OPEC’s effort at cutting production to its stated 32.5-33.0 mb/d range as part of a November deal will be much more difficult to achieve, or even agree to. OPEC is also producing about 1 mb/d more than what demand is projected to be in 2017.
U.S. oil production rises. Weekly data from the EIA shows U.S. oil production up to 8.69 million barrels per day in the first week of November, up 170,000 barrels per day from last week. The rig count jumped by another 12 rigs as of Nov. 4, up 165 from the low point earlier this year. Drilling is picking up again and companies are getting back to work. But in a sign of trouble ahead, an oilfield services company in Calgary says that it is having trouble finding enough people to hire now that drilling is picking up pace. After having cut 700 workers over the past two years, The Canadian Press reports that Essential Energy Services is struggling to staff up as many workers have moved on to other industries.
Oil prices falter. After a brief period of volatility after Tuesday’s election, oil prices have fallen back again as oversupply looms and doubts over OPEC persist. The IEA warned of “relentless global supply growth” after OPEC boosted production, and reiterated projections for a balancing at some point in 2017. “Prices could fall to $40 or perhaps a little bit lower, especially in the absence of a deal” by OPEC, Abhishek Deshpande, an analyst at Natixis SA, said on Bloomberg Television.
|
