Opec member Kuwait has notified at least two term customers in Asia that it would cut their crude oil supplies by 5 percent from November, industry sources said on Friday. The move by the Middle Eastern oil producer followed similar action this week by some Opec members, providing further evidence of the group's determination to stem a price slide.
Opec decided last Friday to slash production from November to combat a more than halving of oil prices from a July peak. Kuwait did not make clear if the cuts would continue in December or how long they would last, the industry sources said. Most Asian customers have already fixed their loading schedules for November and the sudden cut came as unexpected to some lifters who had hoped the cuts would start from December.
A source with a third Northeast Asian lifter said it also received the 5 percent reduction but was unsure whether the cut was effective from November or December. The Asian lifters had received the full contracted volumes from Kuwait until October, the sources added. Earlier this week, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), the state-run firm for the UAE's key oil producer Abu Dhabi, said it would reduce its November and December export volumes by 5-15 percent depending on crude oil grades such as Murban.
Nigeria will reduce crude oil export volumes by 5 percent in November and December due to Opec's production cut, its state oil firm said on Thursday. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) agreed last Friday at an emergency meeting to slash production levels by 1.5 million barrels per day.