Crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia fell for a second straight month in April to a record low, according to Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) data released on Monday, as the Iran war disrupted shipments from the Gulf region.
Exports fell to about 3.990 million barrels per day in April from 4.974 million bpd in March. The JODI data for Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports and output extends back to 2002, the earliest period for which data is available.
The country’s crude oil production stood at 6.316 million bpd in April, the lowest level on record, compared with 6.967 million bpd in March.
Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to the JODI, which publishes them on its website.
In the latest on the geopolitical front, the U.S. and Iran made “encouraging progress” at the first round of talks aimed at reaching a final peace deal, mediators said, although tension persisted over Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iranian attacks on Gulf states in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes that began in late February damaged major energy facilities and disrupted shipping through the strait, which normally carries about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
The International Energy Agency estimated that the war blocked more than 14 million bpd of Middle East oil output.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has become the world’s largest oil exporter, upending a decades-old order long dominated by Saudi Arabia and Russia, a shift that tightens U.S. companies’ grip on energy markets as the war reshapes global energy trade.
Saudi Arabia’s refinery crude throughput in April fell by 0.055 million bpd to 2.211 million bpd from March’s 2.266 million bpd, the JODI data showed. Direct crude burning increased by 210,000 bpd to 540,000 bpd.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey)