Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports tumbled to a nine-year low in May as coordinated supply curbs OPEC+ cuts took effect. Statistics from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative showed Saudi Arabia exported a record 10.237 million bpd of crude in April, but exports fell to 6.02 million bpd in May, the lowest since October 2010.
During the same month, the kingdom’s oil production fell to 8.486 million bpd, the lowest since December 2010, following an all-time high of 12.07 million bpd in the previous month. Despite lower output and exports, crude stockpiles in the country rose to 147.561 million barrels in May from a 16-year low of 143.502 million barrels in April.
The unprecedented supply cuts by OPEC+ producers managed to push oil prices back above $40/barrel from historic lows in April. The group has agreed to ease the reductions on schedule in August on optimism that improving global consumption will soak up the excess supply.
The kingdom’s exports of oil products, including LPG, naphtha, gasoline, kerosene, and diesel, increased to a 14-month high of 1.456 million bpd in May from 1.098 million bpd in April. Saud Arabia processed 1.929 million bpd of crude in its domestic refineries in May, increasing from 1.84 million bpd in April.
Meanwhile, local power plants burned 407,000 bpd of crude in May, compared to 355,000 bpd in the prior month Combining the exports and domestic uses, Saudi Arabia supplied 8.356 million bpd of crude oil to the market in May, decreasing from 12.432 million bpd in April.
