"The momentum in global economic growth has been improving resulting in an upward revision in the 2017 forecast to now stand at 3.3% from 3.2% previously, while growth for 2016 remains at 3.0%… This upward revision is also supported by a more balanced oil market, a key factor buttressing output levels in oilproducing nations and leading to rising investments in the energy sector," the cartel’s March report read.
The more balanced oil market has also helped to lift inflation to healthier levels, provide support to central banks to normalise interest rates and boost world trade in volume and value, according to OPEC.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member countries have decreased their oil output by 153,000 barrels per day in March, with Libya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Nigeria showing the largest decline, the cartel said Wednesday in a report.
"According to secondary sources, OPEC crude oil production in March decreased by 153 tb/d from the previous month to average 31.93 mb/d [million barrels per day]," the organization’s March report read.
According to OPEC, Libya, the UAE and Nigeria showed the largest decline in oil production with decreases of 60.8, 32.7 and 29.8 thousand barrels per day respectively.
The price of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily crude basket fell 5.7 percent in March, hitting its lowest value since last year’s output cut deal due to increasing crude oil production and stocks in the United States, the cartel said Wednesday in a report.
"The OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) averaged $50.32/b [per barrel] in March, representing a decline of 5.7% from the previous month. For the month of March, the ORB closed at its lowest value since November 2016 on rising crude oil production and crude oil stocks in the US, which weighed on global oil prices for most of the month," the cartel’s March report read.
According to OPEC, rising US domestic production, lower exports and seasonal lower refiner runs boosted US crude stocks to a record level of about 534 million barrels in the last week of March.
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