* Iraq's southern oil field exports hit 3.364 mln bpd
* Follows growing production from Saudi Arabia, Iran
* Surging Middle East output counters fall in U.S.
production
By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped in early
Asian trading on Tuesday on signs that production in the Middle
East is continuing to rise, countering falls in U.S. output and
threatening to keep a global supply overhang in place for
longer.
The international Brent crude benchmark LCOc1 was trading
at $45.68 per barrel at 0100 GMT, down 15 cents from its last
close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1
were down 6 cents at $44.72 a barrel.
The dips came as Iraq, the second biggest exporter within
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC),
was the latest OPEC-member to announce its exports were rising,
reporting oil shipments from southern fields at an average rate
of 3.364 million barrels per day (bpd) in April.
That was higher than the March average of 3.286 million and
close to its November record of 3.37 million bpd.
"Energy was weaker. Concerns over rising OPEC supply were
raised after Iraq announced it had shipped 3.36 million bpd in
April," ANZ bank said on Tuesday.
Production in OPEC's biggest exporter, Saudi Arabia, was
10.15 million bpd in April, but sources have said it may rise to
near-records of 10.5 million bpd in coming weeks.
Adding to surging Middle East output is Iran which, relieved
of crippling sanctions in January, has increased its exports to
almost 2 million bpd currently from little over 1 million bpd at
the start of the year, with sales especially to South Korea
soaring.
The surging supplies from the Middle East counter falling
U.S. output, where production has declined from a peak of around
9.6 million bpd in June 2015, to below 9 million bpd now,
according to U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
"It was the falling U.S. production that helped lift prices
earlier this year, so if a surge in Middle East output now
counters the U.S. decline, then we could well be in for another
downward correction in oil markets," one trader said.
Crude futures surged by almost a third in April, and they
have recovered over 70 percent from decade lows reached in early
2016.
"A weaker dollar, falling U.S. oil production, improving
economic data from China, combined with large speculative
positions fuelled the rally. Analysts, however, have cautioned
that inventories remain high and oversupply persists," Singapore
Exchange (SGX) said on Tuesday in its monthly report.