Mubasher: Oil output from member states of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) dropped last July, with declines mostly coming from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Libya and Venezuela.

OPEC crude production averaged 29.61 million barrels per day (bpd), dropping by 246,000 bpd, the producer club said in its closely watched monthly oil market report (OMR), citing independent sources.

It is worth noting that the 14-member group’s figures rely on preliminary estimates from direct communication for non-OPEC supply, OPEC natural gas liquids (NGL) and non-conventional oil, while OPEC crude output are based on secondary sources.

The biggest fall was observed in Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s de-facto leader, as it produced 9.7 million bpd during July, 134,000 bpd month-on-month lower, while Libya’s crude output fell by 42,000 bpd.

Iran and Venezuela saw their production dropping by 47,000 bpd and 32,000 bpd to 2.21 million bpd and 742,000 bpd, respectively.

In addition, share of OPEC crude in the broader global production fell by 0.3% month-on-month to 30% last July.

Non-OPEC supply grew by 480,000 bpd to 69.11 million bpd during July, mainly driven supplies from Canada, Norway, the UK, Australia, India, Brazil, and Azerbaijan.

By 1:23 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures climbed by 0.52% to $58.53 per barrel (pb), while global benchmark Brent futures rose by 0.17% to $54.56 pb.