Saudi Arabia’s deep production cuts are taking a toll on both crude exports and refining runs. Saudi Arabia is bearing the brunt of Opec+ production cuts as it cuts far deeper than required in a bid to hasten market rebalancing (MEES, 12 July). This is now taking its toll across the kingdom’s oil sector.
Crude exports dropped to a 19-month low of 6.94mn b/d in May, and MEES tanker tracking indicates that the figure edged lower still in June. Meanwhile, refining runs also dipped in May to a 13-month low of 2.46mn b/d (see full data MEES, 19 July). This was despite the kingdom continuing to draw heavily on its crude stockpiles, which fell a further 5.8mn barrels to exit the month at 187.7mn. That is a fall of 47.6mn barrels over the course of the previous 12 months. (CONTINUED - 717 WORDS)
