OPEC oil output reaches seven months high

VIENNA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- OPEC oil output reaches the highest level in the past seven months, breaking the output ceiling deal agreed last November for the second months, the cartel's monthly report showed on Thursday.

"Total OPEC-14 crude oil production averaged 32.87 mb/d in July, an increase of 173 tb/d over the previous month. Crude oil output increased mostly in Libya, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia," said the report. This is also the second consecutive month that OPEC member states are pumping more above the output ceiling agreed in last November.

Libya, Nigeria was exempted from the output deal last November, however, the two member states are producing more crude in the past three months, together with Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer of the cartel, also the de facto leader of OPEC, are together pushing the cartel to reach higher oil production.

Saudi Arabia pumped above the ceiling agreed to last winter, producing 10.07 million barrels a day (mb/d).

OPEC officials met earlier this week in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, to discuss improving compliance of the output cut deal. OPEC is also considering to include Libya, Nigeria into the output cut deal.

The oil price is not recovered as expected while OPEC and some of other oil producers jointly pump less oil historically.