1 of 2 | OPEC in a statistical review of the market in 2022 said its member states saw a near-10% increase in crude oil exports relative to 2021 levels. OPEC production restraint this year could drive oil prices higher. File photo by Mohamed Messar/EPA-EFE
July 11 (UPI) -- In a statistical review of 2022, and amid expectations of a tighter market in the second half of the year, OPEC said Tuesday its exports were strong, but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published an annual review on trends among member states for 2022. The core members exported an average of 21.39 million barrel of crude oil per day last year, an 8.8% increase from the prior year, though that was still below pre-pandemic levels.
Following what OPEC said was a prevailing trend, the bulk of those barrels targeted the economies of Asia, which accounted for about 71% of total exports.
Europe, which scrambled for alternative resources after war-related sanctions sidelined waterborne exports from Russia, took in 18% more crude oil from OPEC members during the prior year to average 3.9 million bpd.
The Americas took in only 1 million bpd from OPEC members last year, though that marked a 14% increase from 2021 levels. For the U.S. market, Canada is by far the leading exporter of crude oil.
OPEC production decisions rest with the core members and a handful of non-member state allies coordinated under a group dubbed OPEC+. Russia, a major oil producer in its own right, was able to pull off a market coup of sorts by gaining a seat at the OPEC+ table.
Both Russia and Saudi Arabia have been reigning in production, ostensibly to support broader market stability. Saudi Arabia, however, needs the price of Brent crude oil, the global benchmark, to average $80 per barrel to balance its book. Russia needs whatever it can get to pad its war chest.
Brent opened trading on Wall Street at around $78 per barrel. Brent was trading at $114 per barrel this time last year.
"It has become blatantly obvious that Saudi Arabia and Russia believe oil revenues can be maximized more effectively by reducing output and achieving higher prices than vice versa," Tamas Varga, an analyst at London oil broker PVM, said in an emailed market report. "It is also evident that current price levels are deemed unacceptable."
Elsewhere on the supply side, OPEC said total global crude oil reserves stood at 1.5 trillion barrels, a 1.1% increase from 2021 levels.
On demand, OPEC said the appetite for crude oil increased 2.6% from 2021 levels to reach 99.56 million bpd on average last year. Demand increased in "almost every region," OPEC said.
China, the world's second-largest economy behind the United States, lifted its pandemic restrictions at the start of the year, though its growth trajectory has been slower than expected.
