Saudis, Iraq Cut Oil Exports as Venezuela Shipments Surge

By Wael Mahdi, Bloomberg, February 17, 2013

Iraq and Saudi Arabia cut crude oil exports in December for a second month, while fellow OPEC member Venezuela boosted shipments to their highest in more than four years, according to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative.

Iraq, the biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, curtailed exports by 10 percent to 2.35 million barrels a day, data posted today on the initiative’s website showed. The Saudi kingdom shipped 7.06 million barrels a day in the month, down 1.3 percent from November, according to the data.

Venezuela increased crude shipments in December by 19 percent to 1.97 million barrels a day, the most since July 2008, when it exported 2.24 million, the initiative known as JODI said, citing statistics that member governments submitted to the 12-nation group. OPEC supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil.

Nigeria boosted shipments by 14 percent during the month to 2.29 million barrels a day, and Angola raised exports by 5.6 percent to 1.7 million a day. Kuwait’s exports in December were little changed at 2.06 million, JODI data showed. Algeria’s shipments slipped 5.5 percent to 685,000 barrels a day, according to the initiative.

Iran, Libya and the United Arab Emirates didn’t submit monthly data.

JODI, supervised by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum, uses statistics supplied by national governments to compile data on imports, exports and output for oil-producing and consuming nations. The data include crude oil and condensates and exclude natural gas liquids.