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Exhibit 96: OPEC 2016 Production Cut Agreement
and Recent Changes
If fully implemented, OPEC's proposed cut would reverse
production growth from the prior 6 months.
Million Barrels/Day
14 m Production Change in 6 Months Leading up to
the November 2016 OPEC Meeting
12 m November 2016 Agreed Cut
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
ran
raq
Libya
UAE
Total
Algeria
Angola
Ecuador
Kuwait
Nigeria
Qatar
Saudi
Venezuela
Data as of November 30, 2016.
Source: Investment Strategy Group, Bloomberg, OPEC.
Exhibit 97: US Energy Sector Ratio of Capital
Spending (Capex) to Depreciation
Low capex levels suggest there is upside to investment.
Ratio
25
Capex-to-Depreciation Ratio
=== Long-Term Average
3.0
25
2.0
0.0
1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Data through September 30, 2016.
Source: Investment Strategy Group, Empirical Research Partners.
suggest the transition toward a balanced market is
underway. The same could be said for the dramatic
cuts in US drilling budgets, which have precipitated
notable declines in US shale output (see Exhibit
94). Lower oil prices have also supported above-
average global demand growth, helping to absorb
excess inventories. Lastly, OPEC agreed to
lower production in November 2016, while also
securing a promise from its significant non-OPEC
counterparts to do the same. Taken together, these
developments support our forecast for moderately
higher oil prices in 2017.
This balancing act is still precarious, however.
Oil inventories stand well above seasonal averages,
so failure to honor the announced production
cuts could delay the recovery in oil prices or, even
worse, cause renewed declines. The risk of poor
compliance is not trivial, given that producers
have exceeded their quota 90% of the time by an
average of 1 million barrels per day (mmbd) since
2000 (see Exhibit 95). The pledges from Russia
and certain smaller non-OPEC producers are
particularly suspect, as similar promises to cut their
Oil is finding its footing again after
having stumbled dramatically over
the last two years.
own output along with OPEC have been broken
in the past.
Moreover, while the announced cuts are
significant—the OPEC agreement would reduce
production by up to 1.2 mmbd, equivalent to
about one year of average global demand growth—
they are largely a reversal of production growth
seen over the last six months (see Exhibit 96).
Meanwhile, Libya and Nigeria were excluded from
these new OPEC quotas given sizable domestic
disruptions that have depressed their production.
Recent signs of improvement, however, suggest a
rebound in their production cannot be dismissed.
Therefore, the announced cuts are not a panacea to
the current oil imbalance, particularly if US shale
output increases meaningfully in response.
This last point is important, as US shale
accounted for 60% of global production growth
between 2012 and 2015 despite representing
less than 5% of the total output. Although US
production is now declining, two factors may
arrest its slide in 2017. First, the breakeven price
for shale drilling has fallen to an average of $50
per barrel, reflecting a 20% decline in
production costs and improvements to
the shale model, including faster drilling,
larger wells and better resource recovery.
In response, more than 200 oil rigs have
been placed in service since their number
troughed in May 2016.’ Second, capital
spending by the US energy sector is
Outlook | Investment Strategy Group 75
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014608
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| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:23:06.803939 |