• Saudi Arabia’s crude production topped 10.3mn b/d in April (10.308mn b/d), according to its official submission to Opec, having already brushed this level in March. These figures are level with the kingdom’s previous all-time output high, set in 1980 at the height of the post-revolution Iranian oil embargo. The UAE and Iraq are also producing at record levels, and Iran has grandiose expansion plans (see p4), as Opec producers jostle to maximize their market share ahead of the organization’s 5 June meeting in Vienna.
• Perhaps surprisingly, given that Saudi Arabia is ramping up throughputs at two new 400,000 b/d refineries, crude exports were also running at near-record levels in March, the latest Jodi figures show. March exports of 7.9mn b/d were the highest since November 2005 (see table). (CONTINUED - 191 WORDS)
