Angola: Cabinda crude oil prices recover in March
The average price of Angola’s Cabinda crude oil rose from USD 66.4 per barrel (pb) in February to USD 69.5 pb in March. March’s print was 1.7% above the average price observed in in the previous month and 29.7% higher in year-on-year terms. The monthly recovery in Cabinda Crude oil prices reflected developments in the international oil market.
Strong compliance in March among countries participating in the OPEC and non-OPEC oil output cap and expectations that the current deal will be extended were largely behind March’s increase. Combined oil output among OPEC members dipped from 32.4 million barrels per day (mbpd) in February to 31.7 mbpd in March, according to the cartel’s latest monthly oil report released on 13 April.
According to the report, oil production in Angola dipped from 1.6 mbpd to 1.5 mbpd largely due to declining production in mature oil fields. Similarly, news arose that Russia and OPEC countries are considering extending the cuts by 10–20 years to facilitate cooperation among signatories and exert greater influence on prices. This development more than offset the impacts on prices of reports that U.S. inventories unexpectedly rose in March amid soaring shale oil output.