Nigeria & Saudi account for the bulk September OPEC Oil Output drop

Crude oil output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fell by 390,000 barrels per day (b/d) to 31.15 million b/d in September, with Saudi Arabia and Nigeria accounting for the bulk of the month-on-month drop. This follows August production of 31.54 million b/d and leaves OPEC overproducing its 30 million b/d ceiling by 1.15 million b/d.  

According to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts, Saudi Arabia pumped an average 9.85 million b/d in September, 150,000 b/d lower than August's 10 million b/d, a level it had maintained since May. Nigerian output was down by 230,000 b/d at 2.05 million b/d in September from 2.28 million b/d in August, the survey estimated.

In Angola, maintenance helped push volumes down to 1.7 million b/d from 1.75 million b/d in August. Other smaller decreases came from Algeria, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The only countries to increase output were Iraq, whose exports climbed further in September, and Libya. Iraqi output was estimated at 3.18 million, up 80,000 b/d from August, and Libyan output at 1.48 million b/d, up 30,000 b/d from August.
In recent months rising Iraqi production has set a series of post-1990 records, but the September figure of 3.18 million b/d surpasses even anything seen in 1990 and is the biggest recorded since Platts started thorough monthly surveys of OPEC production in March 1988.
Ecuador, Kuwait and Venezuela maintained production at August levels.