OPEC estimates OECD oil reserves in December

Commercial stocks of oil and petroleum products in the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in December decreased by 10.9 million barrels compared to November, but were 95 million barrels below the five-year average and 158 million barrels below the average in 2015-2019, Report informs referring to the February report of OPEC.

According to preliminary data for December, the total commercial stocks of oil and petroleum products in the OECD countries decreased by 10.9 million barrels compared to the previous month. The reserves amounted to 2.768 billion barrels, which is 117 million barrels more than in the same period of the previous year, by 95 million barrels below the five-year average and 158 million barrels below the 2015-2019 average, the report said.

In December, oil reserves in the OECD amounted to 1.344 billion barrels, and reserves of oil products stood at 1.424 billion barrels.

Bringing commercial reserves of oil and petroleum products in the world to an average five-year level was originally designated as the goal of the OPEC+ deal. Of all the stocks, the parties to the agreement track stocks in the countries of the OECD most actively.

However, in 2021, the alliance members began to focus on an additional target - the average value of reserves for the period 2015-2019, since oil reserves were at an abnormally high level for almost the entire 2020.