US shale to propel oil production growth beyond rising demand, admits Opec

Opec has confirmed fears that US Shale will help inflate the world’s oil supplies beyond rising demand this year. Analysts at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries lifted their monthly forecasts for oil production from outside of the cartel for the fourth month in a row. The Opec report revealed for the first time that the scale of the US shale boom may undermine procuction cuts which are meant to drain the glut of oil which caused a collapse in prices. The figures confirm fears raised by reports from the International Energy Agency which said US exports would be enough to cover around 80pc of the world’s demand growth over the next three years – and growth from Canada, Brazil and Norway will more than cover the remaining 20pc. Opec is still more cautious than the IEA in its view of US shale, but it nonetheless revealed a 260,000 barrel hike from its previous estimates to peg non-Opec supply growth at 1.66 million barrels a day.