Gulf states trimmed crude supplies by nearly 170,000 barrels per day in April

Gulf oil producers trimmed crude supplies by nearly 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April despite growing Western calls for higher output to ease oil prices.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and Qatar said their combined oil production stood at 19.361 million bpd in April compared with 19.531 million bpd in March and as high as 19.711 million bpd in February.

Reporting individual crude output to the Riyadh-based Joint Oil Data Initiative (Jodi), the five producers gave no reason for the cuts, which brought their total output nearly 350,000 bpd below their February production and around 113,000 below their combined output in January.

The UAE, one of the world's top six oil exporters, said its crude production stood at 2.676 million bpd in April compared with 2.710 million bpd in March and nearly 2.716 million bpd and 2.700 million bpd in February and January respectively. Saudi Arabia, the world's oil powerhouse, reported its crude output stood at 9.124 million bpd in April, unchanged from the previous month. But it was far below its February production of 9.216 million bpd.

Kuwait reduced its output to 2.568 million bpd in April from 2.675 million bpd in March, while Iran pumped around 4.160 million bpd compared with 4.170 million bpd. Qatar, a relatively small oil producer but a major gas power, also cut supplies to around 833,000 bpd from 852,000 bpd.

Outside the Gulf, Opec member Libya said its output slightly fell to 1.743 million bpd in April from 1.767 million bpd in March, while Venezuela boosted production to around 3.091 million bpd from 3.054 million bpd. Most other members of the 13-nation oil cartel gave no oil output data for those months.

Jodi, which provides oil production and consumption data from nearly 100 countries gave no figures for May as it has not received updated figures from most members, according to officials. Oil production by Gulf states, which control more than 60 per cent of the world's recoverable crude wealth, declined despite repeated calls from the US and other Western consumers to pump more oil to bring down prices.

Crude prices have surged by more than 50 per cent since mid-2007 to approach a record high of $140 a barrel this week despite reports that Saudi Arabia has pledged to boost production by around 200,000 bpd.

The planned increase, reported by the UN Secretary General when he visited Riyadh this week, followed an earlier promise by the Kingdom to hike output by 300,000 bpd. Except Saudi Arabia, all other Gulf oil producers are pumping close to capacity but some of them have been locked in projects to expand output.

Saudi Arabia's sustainable production capacity is currently estimated at 11.3 million bpd, leaving more than two million in spare capacity in April. Mega projects are expected to push up that capacity to 12.5 million bpd next year.

The Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy, said the surge in crude prices would push Opec's total earnings to a record high of $1.17trn (Dh4.29trn) this year compared with around $673bn in 2007. Other Gulf states are expected to net $600bn.