Bahrain Mirror: The average price of Bahrain crude oil, categorized as Arab medium oil, dropped to USD 33 per barrel in international markets during the week between 7 and 11 December, 2015, according to the latest data published by the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).

The Bahraini Al-Wasat newspaper in its Sunday issue (December 27, 2015) explained that Bahrain's crude oil production reaches 200,000 barrels daily, 150,000 of which from Bahrain's share of the offshore Abu Sa'afa mutual field with Saudi Arabia, and about 50,000 barrels from Bahrain's land oilfield.

Bahrain sells its share of Abu Sa'afa field to international markets directly on a daily basis, while sells its oil production from the Bahrain land oilfield daily to the Bapco refinery.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) stated on its official website that the average prices of its crudes has dropped to USD 31.15 per barrel at the end of last week.

As for US and european oil, the price of oil increased exceeding USD 38 per barrel, and the US crude oil has gained support from falling inventories, reduced drilling and the lifting of a ban on most US crude exports, which has pushed US crude to a premium to global benchmark Brent for the first time in about a year.

Brent LCOc1 settled up 53 cents at USD 37.89 a barrel, after it fell to USD 35.98, an 11-year low, on Tuesday. US crude CLc1 settled up 60 cents at USD 38.10 after gaining more than 8 percent this week.

Baker Hughes reported that US oil drillers cut rigs for a fifth week in the last six, a sign that low prices are curbing activity and could slow output.

Brent has more than halved from more than $100 a barrel 18 months ago, pressured by a supply glut that according to OPEC figures exceeds 2 million barrels per day.

Next year, the glut is expected to be smaller as world demand rises and the price collapse leads to lower output from some countries outside OPEC, but there is no sign yet that OPEC itself is prepared to lower its supply - which is likely to rise when sanctions on Iran are lifted.

Gazprom Neft, a division of Russian energy giant Gazprom and the country's fourth-largest crude oil producer, said oil output for the first nine months of the year increased more than 20 percent. plans to investment 362 billion roubles (USD 5.13 billion) in 2016, up from 343 billion roubles this year.

Its preliminary hydrocarbon production this year rose by 20 percent to 79.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent, the company further said in a statement.

Arabic Issue