OPEC quest gets tougher as Libya and Nigeria ramp up oil supply

Nigeria and Libya, two crude suppliers in OPEC whose output was crushed by domestic conflicts this year, are ramping up again and spelling out what could become the producer club’s biggest challenge as it grapples with a global supply glut, Bloomberg reported.

 

Libya shipped the most oil since late 2014 in October, while Nigeria’s petroleum minister estimated on Tuesday that his country is now pumping in excess of 2 million barrels a day for the first time since the start of the year. Together, they’ve now added about 800,000 barrels a day since September.

 

"The pain for OPEC to reach the planned target level will get bigger and bigger as long as Nigeria and Libya continue to increase production,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Group AG in Zurich. The organization is "talking about cuts but so far what we have seen is a production increase.”