Oil output hits post-strike low

摘要

Venezuela shed another 216,000 b/d of crude production in December, bringing ofcial monthly output to just 1.621mn b/d-the lowest since the mid-1980s, excluding a 2002-03 labour strike. Ofcial Venezuelan production data for December cited by Opec in its January 2018 Monthly Oil Market Report confrm a sharp acceleration in the decline trend, following losses of 118,000 b/d in November and 130,000 b/d in October. The December output data indicate a larger decline than those of secondary sources, including an Argus estimate of a 151,000 b/d fall to around 1.686mn b/d, based on information from local industry ofcials. Other secondary sources had predicted a much smaller drop for December. Ofcial production data historically exceed secondary source estimates.