Abu Dhabi National Oil may cut supplies to BPCL from January

After last week's production cuts announced by OPEC (See: OPEC's 4.2-million barrel supply cut rebounds as prices fall below $40) UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is reported to be considering a cut in its January oil supplies to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

OPEC had announced its largest-ever production cut of 4.2 million barrels a day from 1 January 2009 to stop the continuing slide in oil prices, currently hovering around $40 a barrel, down from their lifetime high of $147 in July 2008 (See: Oil reels under triple blow, rises to record $146.90 a barrel) 

At OPEC's 151st extraordinary meeting in Oran, Algeria, on 17 December 2008 it said that ''The Conference agreed to cut 4.2 million barrels a day from the actual September 2008 OPEC-11 production of 29.045 mb/d, with effect from 1 January 2009, with Member Countries strongly emphasising their firm commitment to ensuring that their production is reduced by the individually agreed amounts."

BPCL buys about 40,000 barrels per day of crude from ADNOC. To overcome the supply shortfall, BPCL is said to be looking at importing some volumes of Yemen's Masila crude, which the company has purchased on a number of occasions in the past.