Oil Inventory Report of Venezuela to OPEC

Venezuela’s oil supply collapse last month increasing the influence of a global production impact and developing deeper limited supplies. The country reported to OPEC that the reason for the sinking oil production is the U.S. sanctions and blackouts.

President Donald Trump is putting pressures to OPEC and its partners led by Russia to have better market-supporting efforts. The reduction of supply by OPEC and sudden cut in Venezuela and Iran caused a 32 percent increase in crude prices this year.

OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) released a monthly report last Wednesday. Stating Venezuela said to the group that the pumped barrels per day in March dropped 960,000. The bpd is almost 500,000 lower from February.

The OPEC+ group of producers could add these figures in the debate. About the keeping of oil supply cuts beyond June. Even though OPEC is firm about maintaining the status of the curbs, a Russian official said Moscow desires to add more barrels per day.

OPEC’s Plan

From January 1 for six months, OPEC, Russia and other non-member producers agreed upon decreasing its output by 1.2 million bpd. And on June 25-26, these producers set a meeting to come to a resolution on whether to extend the pact or not.

Due to the continuous increase in market conditions and dropping stockpiles, Kill Dmitriev, one of the key officials who fostered the pact with OPEC, will request a rise in the output when they meet OPEC in June.

Slowing economic growth and demand could lead to a new supply glut. To avoid this event, OPEC+ went back in the cutting of supplies in 2019. In OPEC’s report, the group diminished its estimate of global growth in demand by 30,000 to 1.21 million bpd, creating a slowdown in developed economies.

After rising of oil inventories in developed economies last January, the report said it went down in February. Calming OPEC’s concern in possible supply gut.

Venezuela Cuts Supply

The figure of Venezuela’s production is becoming closer to outside estimates. The country’s economic downfall is resulting in larger damage to its oil industry.

Venezuela’s supply sank when the U.S. sanctions on state oil company PDVSA designed to oust President Nicolas Maduro and power blackouts last March. The economic collapse resulted in Venezuela, once a top-three OPEC producer, to decrease output in for years.

OPEC+ decided to excuse Venezuela, Iran, and Libya in a deal from to make voluntary curbs due to the reason that their output will possibly drop. The share of cut in supply of OPEC is about 800,000 bdp from in most cases October 2018 levels. And according to the report, other producers are reducing more than the agreed figures.

OPEC’s Bpd

OPEC’s share was cut by more than 534,000 bpd to 30.022 million bpd. The fell on figures was not due to Venezuela but Saudi Arabia who has been removing supply larger than it agreed to back the market. Therefore, based on a Reuters calculation, the 11 OPEC members are supposed to cut output reached 155 percent compliance. With pledge curbs in March up from February.