By Alex Lawler
LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC, excluding Iraq and Angola, raised crude oil output slightly in June as Nigerian supply began to recover from a spate of outages and Iran pumped more, a Reuters survey showed on Tuesday.
Ten OPEC members bound by output targets, all except Iraq and Angola, produced 26.64 million barrels per day (bpd), up 50,000 bpd from May, according to the survey of oil companies, traders, OPEC officials and analysts.
The survey indicates most OPEC members are keeping a cap on output in spite of a jump in oil prices to a 10-month high of more than $72 a barrel. Analysts do not expect the group to consider any policy change before it meets on September 11.
"It does not seem likely that OPEC is going to act before September, and our reading of the market is that it will gradually tighten," said Kevin Norrish of Barclays Capital.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, source of more than a third of the world's oil, agreed last year to lower production by 1.2 million bpd from November 1 and by a further 500,000 bpd from February 1 to prop up prices.
June supply from the 10 countries was 1 million bpd less than in October, according to Reuters estimates, or about 59 percent of the total production cut pledged.
OPEC officials have rebuffed repeated calls from the International Energy Agency, adviser to 26 industrialised countries, for the group to pump more.
ENOUGH OIL
Venezuela's oil minister said in remarks published on Tuesday that rising prices reflect political tension and a lack of refining capacity.
"The issue is not oil production. We have enough...oil in the market," Rafael Ramirez told the Iranian newspaper Sharq during a visit to Iran.
Total OPEC supply fell slightly to 30.19 million bpd from 30.2 million bpd in May. Iraq's oil exports slipped from a 2007 high in May and Angolan production edged up to 1.62 million bpd.
Iran and Nigeria each boosted supply by 40,000 bpd in June, the survey found. Smaller increases in June came from Algeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Iranian output climbed due to higher sales from storage, industry sources said, while Nigeria's rose because of fewer disruptions to supply caused by attacks on the oil industry.
Oil companies at the end of May detailed more than 900,000 bpd of Nigerian production shut because of militant attacks and sabotage in the volatile Niger Delta.
That was down to around 661,000 bpd by July 2.
The survey also found that Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, trimmed supply to 8.57 million bpd. A Gulf source told Reuters this week that production in July would hold steady.
"The Saudis generally are quite content with the market and don't see any need for a change at this time," said Conrad Gerber, head of Petrologistics, which tracks tanker shipments.
Following is crude output in millions of barrels a day.
June May Oct Total cut Target
output output output February 1 Output* Algeria 1.38 1.37 1.35 0.084 1.29 Indonesia 0.84 0.84 0.85 0.055 0.82 Iran 3.89 3.85 3.9 0.249 3.64 Kuwait 2.42 2.42 2.49 0.142 2.36 Libya 1.7 1.71 1.73 0.102 1.62 Nigeria 2.07 2.03(R) 2.35 0.142 2.04 Qatar 0.8 0.8 0.82 0.05 0.79 Saudi Arabia 8.57 8.6 (R) 9.05 0.538 8.49 UAE 2.54 2.53 2.59 0.143 2.44 Venezuela 2.43 2.44 2.51 0.195 2.34 OPEC-10 26.64 26.59(R) 27.64 1.7 25.8 Iraq 1.93 2.0 1.9 Angola 1.62 1.61 TOTAL 30.19 30.2 (R) 29.54
(R)-Revised.
*Figure calculated by Reuters as an indication only by subtracting individual members' supply cuts from their September production as estimated by secondary sources. OPEC has not specified target production rates for individual members. Figures may not add due to rounding.
OPEC began the November 1 reductions from a supply figure of 27.5 million bpd. It did not base the decision and its February 1 cut on its official output quota of 28 million bpd for the 10 participating members.
See the quotas at http://www.opec.org/home/quotas/productionLevels.pdf
OPEC quotas exclude condensate and natural gas liquids and apply to supply rather than wellhead output, defined to exclude movements to, but not sales from, storage. Saudi and Kuwaiti data includes Neutral Zone. Saudi data excludes oil produced for Bahrain. Venezuelan data includes upgraded synthetic oil.
