Iraq, Saudi cut December oil exports while Venezuela boosts shipments

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 Organisations Data Initiative.

Iraq, the biggest producer in the Opec after Saudi Arabia, curtailed exports by 10 per cent to 2.35 million barrels per day, data posted on the initiative's website showed. The Saudi kingdom shipped 7.06 million bpd in the month, down 1.3 per cent from November, according to the data.

Venezuela increased crude shipments in December by 19 per cent to 1.97 million bpd, 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 per cent of the world's oil.

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

Jodi had no monthly data for Iran, Libya and the United Arab Emirates. 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.

* Reuters