Sunday December 14, 11:15 PM
UPDATE 3-Algeria says oil output cut 70,000 bpd since Nov 1
KRECHBA, Algeria, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Algeria has cut 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) of its crude oil output since Nov. 1, in line with OPEC agreements aimed at propping up sagging oil prices, a senior energy official said on Sunday.
The North African country was pumping between 1.31 million and 1.32 million bpd, Said Sahnoun, the head of the associations division at state oil and gas conglomerate Sonatrach, told reporters. Sahnoun's division manages the company's joint ventures with international oil firms.
'We have reduced by 5 percent, which is about 70,000 barrels per day. We have the full reduction,' he said. 'The reduction is across Sonatrach's output and the joint ventures -- it is shared.'
The production figure was a little higher than Algeria's implied target of 1.286 million bpd after the 1.5 million bpd cut agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in October.
It was slightly lower than a Reuters survey of OPEC output for November, which pegged Algeria's production at around 1.38 million bpd.
OPEC ministers were widely expected to agree another cut of at least 1 million bpd when they meet in the Algerian western town of Oran on Wednesday. Oil prices have fallen over $100 from their July peak of over $147 as economic recession in developed countries eats into oil demand.
Algeria's crude oil production capacity was 1.4 million bpd, and gas export capacity stood at 65 billion cubic metres a year, Sahnoun said.
BP (LSE: BP.L - news) , Amerada Hess, Statoil, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Repsol (Madrid: REP.MC - news) and Total are the main foreign companies involved in exploration and production of hydrocarbons in Algeria.
(Reporting by Simon Webb, Writing by William Maclean; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Leslie Adler) Keywords: ALGERIA PRODUCTION
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