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The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has trimmed its crude oil output towards next year's global requirement, further whittling away a supply surplus that could weigh on prices.
The monthly report from OPEC also sounded an upbeat note on the prospects for the world economy in 2014.
"Signs of a recovery are already visible in rising global industrial production," OPEC said, adding that "the global economy has gained traction again."
The report kept unchanged forecasts, which point to a smaller share of the world oil market for OPEC in 2014 due to increasing supply from the United States, in the midst of a shale energy boom, and other non-OPEC countries.
OPEC expects demand for its oil in 2014 to average 29.57 million barrels per day (bpd), maintaining its previous estimate. According to secondary sources cited by the report, OPEC lowered its own output to 29.63 million bpd in November, closer to next year's forecast demand.
That suggested there would be virtually no surplus crude in the market in 2014 should OPEC keep output at November's rate. The amount of excess oil has fallen from earlier this year when OPEC output was well above 30 million bpd.
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