I am pleased to introduce this 56th edition of the Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB). Along with the World Oil Outlook (WOO) and the Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), the ASB is one of OPEC’s flagship publications. With its first edition released back in 1965, this annual publication has evolved through the decades to become a trusted industry handbook for energy stakeholders around the world.
In the novel ‘A study in Scarlet’ by Arthur Conan Doyle, detective Sherlock Holmes says: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.”
This brilliant quote encapsulates perfectly what we seek to achieve in this publication and indeed in all that we do at OPEC. The data we collect is of critical importance, and we constantly strive to ensure the greatest accuracy in all that we do.
However, even more important is how we leverage this important information to make smart and educated decisions. Let’s face it, anything that is not backed up by solid facts and figures can be considered an assumption, and we do not trust in assumptions.
The oil and gas industry is no exception to this rule. And, indeed, that is why industry leaders, energy analysts and oil companies turn each year to the ASB for the key data they need on the global oil and gas industry as input for their planning and decision-making.
OPEC’s commitment to high-quality, transparent oil and gas data supports our goal of fostering sustainable oil market stability for the benefit of producers, consumers and the global economy.
As far as distribution goes, we continue to harness the latest technologies to expand access to the ASB’s valuable data. In this regard, we offer an interactive online version that provides historical time-series data going back to 1960, as well as a SmartApp version that is available for iOS and Android devices. This provides our readers access to valuable data wherever they are, and at any time.
This year’s ASB is the fruitful outcome of countless hours of hard work by OPEC’s Secretariat in close collaboration with our Member Countries. These dedicated efforts have resulted in the highqualit and insightful content you are about to read. I congratulate the entire ASB team for once again achieving an excellent product that will prove highly beneficial to stakeholders across the global industry.