The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has launched the 2021 edition of its Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) via videoconference.
The launch on Thursday is the 56th edition and it continues to provide a wide range of data on the global oil and gas industry, in addition to key economic indicators, serving as a leading industry reference for reliable and timely information for various industry stakeholders, including policymakers, academics and industry analysts.
The publication contains time-series data detailing key aspects of the petroleum industry, such as production, demand, imports, exports, exploration, transportation and refining.
It also features key statistics on the oil and gas activities in OPEC’s 13 Member Countries: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, IR Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
According to a statement by OPEC, this year’s ASB is available as an interactive version and a PDF on the OPEC website, as well as through a smart app compatible with iOS and Andoid platforms.
Speaking at the launch of the ASB, the Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, emphasized the crucial importance of data accuracy and transparency to supporting stability in the global oil market.
“We at OPEC are dedicated to enhancing data transparency through broad dissemination of accurate and timely oil and gas data, not only for the ASB, but for all of our publications,” he stated. “Indeed, maintaining transparency in all that we do underpins our core goal of establishing sustainable oil market stability.”
The opening remark by Barkindo was followed by a panel discussion led by Ms. Boshra AlSeiari, Head of OPEC’s Data Services Department, focusing on the publication’s key highlights, including:
Total world crude oil production declined in 2020 by 6.15 million barrels per day (mb/d), or 8.2 per cent, as compared to 2019, to average 69.09 mb/d, marking a historical year-on-year drop notably after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. OPEC crude oil production declined sharply year-on-year by 3.72 mb/d, or 12.7 per cent, while crude production by non-OPEC countries fell by 2.43 mb/d, or 5.3 per cent.
With an average of 90.73 mb/d in 2020, world oil demand was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and fell by a historic 9.30 mb/d y-o-y. OECD oil demand fell sharply in 2020, while in the non-OECD it declined for the first year in history. Oil demand in OPEC Member Countries was sluggish in 2020, losing 8.2 per cent y-o-y. Distillates and gasoline accounted for around 55.1 per cent of 2020 world oil demand with a steep downward trend, amid COVID-19 containment measures. Residual fuel oil requirements were about 7.1 per cent of total oil demand in 2020.
OPEC Member Countries exported an average of 19.70 mb/d of crude oil in 2020, a sharp decrease of about 2.78 mb/d, or 12.4 per cent, compared to 2019 and marking the fourth consecutive annual decline. Following the pattern in previous years, the bulk of crude oil from OPEC Member Countries – 14.43 mb/d or 73.2 per cent – was exported to Asia, particularly China and India. Considerable volumes of crude oil – about 3.13 mb/d – were also exported to OECD Europe in 2020, which, however, represents a decline compared with 3.74 mb/d recorded in 2019. OECD Americas imported 0.84 mb/d of crude oil from OPEC Member Countries, which was about 0.38 mb/d, or 31.1 per cent, less than the 2019 volumes.
The event, which was livestreamed via the OPEC’s website and official YouTube account, was attended by Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General; Professor Thomas Lindner of the Executive Academy at the Vienna University of Economics and Business; as well as Members of Management at the Secretariat.
GIK/APA