Saudi Arabia cut crude exports by 89,000 b/d to 7.28mn b/d in July whilst boosting refinery runs to 2.21mn b/d. Though the refinery runs figure is 209,000 b/d down on the record 2.42mn b/d figure set in May, it is the fourth highest figure on record and follows the start-up of two 400,000 b/d refineries over the last 18 months (see p12 for full data).
Saudi Arabia also continues to build up its stocks of crude and products. Crude stocks hit a record 320.2mn barrels as of end-July; including products stocks were 411mn barrels, also a record, according to freshly released data from the Riyadh-based Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) and MEES analysis of earlier Aramco data. Crude stocks gained by 700,000 barrels (22,600 b/d) following bumper gains of 6.2mn barrels. Refined products inventories rose by 2.2mn barrels to 91mn barrels in July (see graph 1). (CONTINUED - 589 WORDS)
