"This is very high, a good number," an OPEC source said of the January compliance estimate. "I hope it continues. "Oil edged above $55 a barrel on Tuesday. The cuts agreed by OPEC, Russia and other independent producers has helped to lift prices from a 12-year low near $27 a year ago.The January drop in OPEC output has been offset slightly by higher supply from Libya and Nigeria, which are both exempt from the OPEC agreement because of output losses caused by conflict. Saudi Arabia has reduced output to less than 10 million bpd in January, industry sources told Reuters, implementing a bigger cut than it had agreed to set a good example on compliance.Iran, which was allowed to raise output under the OPEC deal because sanctions had crimped past supply, pumped an additional 20,000 bpd.OPEC announced a production target of 32.5 million bpd at its Nov. 30 meeting, which was based on low figures for Libya and Nigeria and included Indonesia, which has since left the group.Combined output in January from all members is about 520,000 bpd above the target, adjusted to remove Indonesia, the survey showed.The Reuters survey is based on shipping data provided by external sources, Thomson Reuters flows data and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC and consulting firms.

Source: Economic Times January 31, 2017 13:27 UTC