OPEC pumps more oil after freeze talks fail, boosting surplus

OPEC pointed to a larger oil supply surplus on the market this year as lifting of sanctions on Iran helps boost its output, making up for outages within the group and losses in outside producers hurt by the collapse in prices.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 32.44 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, the exporter group said in a monthly report on Friday citing secondary sources, up 188,000 bpd from March.

OPEC and non-member producers including Russia failed at an April 17 meeting to agree to freeze output in a bid to tackle a supply glut that has weighed on prices.

The April output figure is OPEC's highest since at least 2008, according to a Reuters review of past OPEC reports on its website.

OPEC's report points to a 950,000-bpd excess supply on average in 2016 if the group keeps pumping at April's rate, up from 790,000 bpd implied in last month's report.