Oil holding at $52.54 as Iraq’s output hits new record

Iraq’s oil production has reached a new record of 4.32 million barrels per day but oil prices are holding above $52.50 according to reports.

Brent is trading Friday at $52.54 amid the turmoil in the oil industry following the Hurricane Harvey with nearly a quarter of US refining capacity off line.

Reports also say OPEC shipments will decrease to 23.89m bbl/day in 4 weeks to September 16 vs period to August 19, tanker-tracker Oil Movements.

Meantime, Russia’s energy minister Alexander Novak and his Iraqi counterpart Jabbar al-Luaibi met Thursday in Moscow and discussed cooperation within the framework of the OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting, the Russian energy ministry says in statement on its website.