OPEC's June Crude Output Exceeds 31 Million bpd

Saudi Arabia lifted production in June to an 18-month high, but that was barely enough to move the needle for OPEC as a whole, as the kingdom's gains were largely offset by turmoil in Libya and continued declines in Venezuela and Angola, according to the latest S&P Global Platts' OPEC survey.

OPEC produced 31.99 million bpd in June, according to the survey of industry officials, analysts and shipping data, a 90,000-bpd increase from May, Platts reported.

This does not include the Republic of Congo, which became OPEC's 15th member on June 22 and will be included in the Platts survey beginning next month.

The June figure is 740,000 bpd below OPEC's nominal ceiling of 32.73 million bpd, when every country's quota under the OPEC/non-OPEC production cut deal is added up.

OPEC and its 10 non-OPEC partners on June 23 agreed to raise output by a collective 1 million bpd by reducing overcompliance with their committed cuts, but left unsettled how the extra barrels are to be divvied out.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC's largest producer, has said that countries with spare capacity—largely the bloc's Gulf members—would take on the increase, a position opposed by Iran, which has said the deal still binds countries to their individual quotas.

Saudis produced 10.39 million bpd in June, the survey found, up from 10.01 million bpd in May and far above its quota of 10.06 million bpd. This is the highest since December 2016, the month before the production cut agreement went into force.

The kingdom has signaled its intention to produce up to 11 million bpd in July to meet market shortages.

Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, also increased production to the highest since December 2016, by 70,000 bpd in the month to 4.54 million bpd, according to the survey. Exports from both the country's southern port of Basra and the Turkish port of Ceyhan showed rises and fields in Kirkuk saw production gains.

Iran's production, meanwhile, dropped to 3.80 million bpd in June, the survey found.