Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports rose by 170,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 5.75 million bpd in September from 5.58 million bpd in August, reversing a recent trend.
Crude production in the world’s largest oil exporter also rose by 57,000 to 8.98 million bpd, up from 8.92 million bpd in August, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia agreed to a voluntary oil supply cut of 1 million bpd until the end of the year. The production cuts helped drag the economy into its biggest contraction of 4.5% year-on-year (YoY) during last quarter. The kingdom is expected to extend the cuts to at least the first quarter, if not the first half of 2024, the consultancy Energy Aspects said on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia’s crude inventories drew by 4.6 million barrels while product inventories rose by 5.1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, global oil demand remained at a seasonal record high for a fifth consecutive month in September, up 2.5 million bpd year-on-year, according to the data.
Global demand dipped seasonally on a monthly basis, but continued its record-breaking streak for September, driven by strong consumption in China, India, US, and Saudi Arabia, according to the data.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
