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Saudi oil production at new high

Oil production from Saudi Arabia reaches new high, but demand from the de facto head of OPEC also expected to surge. Photo by ekina/Shutterstock VIENNA, July 13 (UPI) — With oil demand from the Middle East expected to surge, Saudi Arabia reported to OPEC its crude oil production was at its highest levels in more than 30 years. Saudi Arabia reported to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries it produced 10.56 million barrels of oil per day in June, a 2.2 percent increase from the previous month. Saudi Arabia has maintained a high level of oil production despite the slump in crude oil prices, arguing it needs to protect its market share in an economy in flux because of the glut of U.S. oil. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said during an April meeting in Beijing his country was a reliable partner to China, which at the time was […]

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Saudi Arabia borrows $4bn as oil price reality hits home

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Saudi-led air raids in Yemen kill 21 two days into truce

Saudi-led air raids killed 21 civilians in Yemen’s capital Sanaa on Monday morning, relatives of the victims and medics told Reuters, two days after the start of a United Nations-brokered humanitarian truce that Riyadh does not recognize. "Three missiles targeted the neighborhood, destroying 15 houses and killing 21 people and wounding 45 others," said a resident. A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been bombing the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh since March 26, aiming to push them back from southern and central areas and restore the country’s exiled government. The Houthis, who are allied to Riyadh’s main regional rival Iran, advanced from their northern stronghold a year ago, capturing the capital Sanaa in September and then pushing south early this year, prompting the Saudi-led airstrikes. More than 3,000 people have been killed in the fighting and air strikes so far, amplifying an existing […]

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Saudi Arabia to Invest up to $10 Billion in Russia

MOSCOW—Saudi Arabia has signed a commitment to invest up to $10 billion in Russia, the Russian Direct Investment Fund said Monday. Russia’s latest pact with its closest oil-producing rival marks Moscow’s efforts to replace Western funding, which has been hit by sanctions , just a few days before a summit of five major emerging economies, known by the acronym of Brics, to be held in Russia’s town of Ufa. The majority of the $10 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund, Public Investment Fund, will be spent on Russia’s agricultural projects, as well as on medicine, logistics, and the country’s retail and real estate sectors, RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev told The Wall Street Journal. The agreement was reached after a “great” contribution from Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, Deputy Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, who met Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during an annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg in June, […]

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As Saudis Keep Pumping, Thirst for Domestic Oil Swells

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia is poised to break records for oil production this summer, analysts said, as domestic-energy needs soar during its scorching summer and the holy month of Ramadan and threaten its ability to ramp up exports. Saudi Arabia has said it produced a near-record 10.3 million barrels a day in May, a mark that industry observers said could increase to 11 million barrels this summer as air-conditioning use increases with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The country has the ability to produce 12.3 million barrels a day for 90 days, but it has never pumped this much. Saudi output averaged 9.22 million barrels a day from 2006 to 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of its oil is exported. For the past three years, Saudi domestic energy demand has been rising by about 8% due to an expanding population and new construction and large-scale projects. More […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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As Saudis Keep Pumping, Thirst for Domestic Oil Swells

RIYADH—Saudi Arabia is poised to break records for oil production this summer, analysts said, as domestic-energy needs soar during its scorching summer and the holy month of Ramadan and threaten its ability to ramp up exports. Saudi Arabia has said it produced a near-record 10.3 million barrels a day in May, a mark that industry observers said could increase to 11 million barrels this summer as air-conditioning use increases with temperatures reaching 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The country has the ability to produce 12.3 million barrels a day for 90 days, but it has never pumped this much. Saudi output averaged 9.22 million barrels a day from 2006 to 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Most of its oil is exported. For the past three years, Saudi domestic energy demand has been rising by about 8% due to an expanding population and new construction and large-scale projects. More […]

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Why the Saudis Are Going Solar

Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud belongs to the family that rules Saudi Arabia. He wears a white thawb and ghutra , the traditional robe and headdress of Arab men, and he has a cavernous office hung with portraits of three Saudi royals. When I visited him in Riyadh this spring, a waiter poured tea and subordinates took notes as Turki spoke. Everything about the man seemed to suggest Western notions of a complacent functionary in a complacent, oil-rich kingdom. But Turki doesn’t fit the stereotype, and neither does his country. Quietly, the prince is helping Saudi Arabia—the quintessential petrostate—prepare to make what could be one of the world’s biggest investments in solar power. Near Riyadh, the government is preparing to build a commercial-scale solar-panel factory. On the Persian Gulf coast, another factory is about to begin producing large quantities of polysilicon, a material used to make […]

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Saudi crude oil stocks likely to draw down: Barclays

Saudi Arabia’s domestic crude consumption is expected to pick up strongly going into the summer season, but with the kingdom intent on meeting global oil demand by keeping production high, it is likely to draw on its stocks at home and abroad, analysts at Barclays Capital said in a research note Monday. "To meet the incremental call at a time when the kingdom’s domestic requirements are set to increase as well, raises the possibility of a draw down on the kingdom’s crude and product stocks, in our view", Barclays said. Saudi crude production has averaged 9.9 million b/d for the year up to April, up 3% year on year, Barclays said, citing the latest data released Thursday by the Riyadh-based Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI). Saudi wellhead production was stable at 10.308 million b/d in April, while exports dropped by 2% to 7.737 million b/d compared with March. Article […]

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Saudi Stocks Drop on Oil as Ramadan Weighs on Mideast Markets

Saudi Arabian stocks, opened last week to foreign investors for the first time, sank the most in 12 weeks following a decline in the price of crude oil. The Tadawul All Share Index retreated 1.7 percent to the lowest level in more than two months. Al Rajhi Bank, the lender with the biggest weighting on the gauge, led the decline with a 2.9 percent drop, followed by National Commercial Bank’s 3.1 percent slide. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s top petrochemicals manufacturer by sales, dropped 2.2 percent. “It’s a reaction to the weakness of oil prices on Friday,” Sebastien Henin, the head of asset management at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi, said by telephone on Sunday. “Investors are selling as there wasn’t the spike they were expecting after the market opened up for direct foreign investment.” Foreign ownership of the kingdom’s shares was little changed at the end […]

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Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports slip in April

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia’s April crude exports fell by 161,000 barrels per day (bpd) as domestic refiners processed more crude, official data showed. Exports fell to 7.737 million bpd from 7.898 million in March when they hit their highest levels in almost a decade. Domestic refiners processed 2.224 million bpd, up 315,000 bpd from 1.909 million bpd in March, figures supplied by Riyadh to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed. JODI compiles data supplied from oil-producing members of global organisations including the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Saudi Arabia has traditionally been the world’s biggest exporter of crude and the kingdom’s rapid transition into one of the largest oil refiners adds an extra dimension to global oil markets. The growth puts its national oil company Saudi Aramco’s owned or equity stakes in refining at 5.4 million bpd, at least […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple