Saudi Arabia has been reining in refinery runs in a bid to maximize crude export volumes the latest data from Riyadh-based Jodi show. The strategy emerged as the kingdom sought to dampen rising oil prices, but with Brent having dropped more than $20/B since the start of October a reversal is already in the works.
Refining runs slipped to a five-month low of 2.63mn b/d in September – albeit still higher than any annual average. Meanwhile, crude exports rose to a 20-month high of 7.43mn b/d (since January 2017), up 220,000 b/d month-on-month (see data). January 2017’s 7.71mn b/d was the first month in which the Opec+ production cuts were in effect. (CONTINUED - 1111 WORDS)
