UAE's oil output falls 1.57% in October

The UAE's oil output fell 1.57 per cent in October to 2.51 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to September's output, latest estimates from the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) showed. The country's oil output rose 0.8 per cent in September to 2.55 million bpd, compared to a month earlier as both Kuwait and the UAE raised their output to the highest levels in around three years to help compensate for Libya's shutdown. Officials at the UAE's Ministry of Energy were not immediately available to comment on the IEA's estimates of oil production. The IEA advises 28 industrialised nations on energy policy. "It's normal for oil production to fluctuate. The lower output in October may have been due to maintenance [work] at some of the producing fields. The UAE can easily make up for the drop in production the following month," Khalid Al Awadi, a UAE energy expert, told Gulf News by telephone. Article continues below Sustainable capacity During the third quarter the UAE's oil output averaged 2.53 million bpd, up from 2.48 million bpd during the second quarter, the IEA said previously. It added that the UAE will have a sustainable production capacity of 2.74 million bpd by the end of this year. In August, the IEA lowered its global oil demand forecast by 60,000 bpd for 2011, citing lower than expected figures during the second and third quarters, sustained pressure of high oil prices and increased evidence of economic slowdown. "Overall, global oil demand is expected to average 89.5 million bpd in 2011, 1.4 per cent higher year on year," said the IEA in its oil market report at the time. "Concerns over debt levels in Europe and the United States, and signs of slowing economic growth in China and India have spooked the market and raised fears in some quarters of a double-dip recession. From an oil market standpoint, perceived wisdom is that this must inevitably mean weaker oil demand to come," it added.