OPEC, for some quiet moments..

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Iran is on track to out-produce Qatar, the world’s biggest LNG exporter, at the vast natural gas deposit they share in the Persian Gulf. But as much as they might want, the Iranians won’t have much gas to export because they are likely to use most of the new production themselves.

Iran set to out-produce Qatar at world's biggest gas field

Iraq pumped 4.57 MMbopd in February and plans to boost output later in the year even as the OPEC member reaffirmed its commitment to the group’s decision to cut production to counter a global glut. The country plans to increase output to 5 MMbopd by the end of 2017, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said Wednesday at a news conference in the southern city of Basra. Iraq exported 3.87 MMbopd from its southern and northern shipment hubs in February, the ministry’s spokesman, Asim Jihad, said in an emailed statement.

Iraq plans to boost crude oil production, exports in 2017

Prices have sunk, stockpiles ballooned and doubts about OPEC’s effectiveness grown, yet Wall Street hasn’t lost faith in oil’s recovery. Crude plunged below $50/bbl in New York last week on signs that OPEC’s production cuts aren’t clearing a global glut quickly enough, and that U.S. shale drillers are ready to fill in any shortfall. Nonetheless, Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup say they’re still confident prices will climb by the end of the year.

Wall Street keeps faith in oil recovery even as prices drop

Even with a rising crude oil price throughout most of 2016, total U.S. oil production in 2016 was below its 2015 level. However, monthly production began growing in the fourth quarter of the year after declining over its first three quarters. Total production managed to stay above the five-year average thanks to prior year increases. With the removal of restrictions on exports of domestically-produced crude oil at the end of 2015, crude oil exports increased and the difference between Brent and WTI crude prices narrowed, which made crude imports relatively more attractive.

EIA: Despite growth late in 2016, U.S. crude oil production decreased while imports, exports increased