Two key trends stand out for Saudi Aramco’s crude oil exports in 2024; overall volumes dropped significantly due to a full year of voluntary Opec+ cuts, while exports to Europe increased amid geopolitical disruption to global shipping lanes. For the year ahead, overall export volumes will remain constrained, and although Red Sea shipping disruption looks set to remain, Europe’s demand for oil is on a downwards trend.
Preliminary figures from data intelligence firm Kpler show that crude exports from Saudi Arabia (excluding the Neutral Zone) averaged just 5.95mn b/d in 2024. This would be the lowest level since 2010, and is significantly below even the peak-Covid years of 2020 and 2021 (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 784 WORDS)
