Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in November jumped to their highest level in eight months, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday.
Crude exports from the world’s largest exporter in November rose 4.7% to 6.206 million barrels per day from 5.925 million bpd in October. Saudi production fell slightly to 8.925 million bpd from 8.972 million bpd in October.
Saudi refineries’ crude throughput was down by 0.383 million bpd to 2.354 million bpd, the data showed, while direct crude burning increased by 20,000 bpd to 382,000 bpd.
Riyadh and other members of OPEC provide monthly export figures to JODI, which publishes them on its website.
In December, OPEC+ delayed oil output increases until April 2025 and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration imposed its broadest package of sanctions yet targeting Russia’s oil and gas revenues.
These measures have disrupted the trade in sanctioned oil, pushing Chinese and Indian refiners back to sellers of non-sanctioned oil, tightening supply and driving up spot premiums for crude produced in the Middle East to Africa and Brazil, traders said. The International Energy Agency in its latest monthly report still sees demand growing more slowly than supply in 2025 but noted that the new U.S. sanctions could significantly disrupt Russian supply.
(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)