Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports hit a seven-month high in September, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Wednesday.
Crude exports from the world’s largest oil exporter increased to 6.460 million barrels per day (bpd), slightly higher than August’s 6.407 million bpd, and their highest level since February.
Saudi Arabia’s crude output, meanwhile, touched a nearly two-and-a-half-year peak, of 9.966 million bpd in September, its highest since April 2023. Output in August stood at 9.722 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members submit monthly export figures to JODI, which publishes them on its platform.
Refinery crude throughput in the kingdom rose to 2.940 million bpd in September, a 1.3% rise from August’s 2.902 million bpd, JODI data revealed, while direct crude burning decreased by 122,000 bpd to 485,000 bpd.
“OPEC+ Group of Eight decided to unwind their production cut in September, with Saudi Arabia increasing its production by 244,000 bpd, but with crude and refined product exports up by a fraction of it,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
“As inventory level was nearly unchanged, the difference must have been consumed domestically.”
OPEC+ has hiked its output targets by roughly 2.9 million barrels per day since April, equivalent to 2.7% of global supply, but agreed to pause increases in the first quarter of next year as the producers’ group moderates plans to regain market share due to rising fears of a supply glut.
OPEC+ pumped 43.02 million barrels per day in October, OPEC said last week, down 73,000 bpd from September. Expected demand for OPEC+ crude at 43.0 million bpd in 2026 implies that the world market will show a small surplus of 20,000 bpd if the wider group keeps pumping at October’s rate, according to a Reuters calculation based on the report.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) meanwhile said last week the market faces an even bigger surplus next year of as much as 4.09 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia is expected to export at least 36 million barrels of crude oil to China in December.
(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)