Saudi oil exports fall to the lowest level since 2002 economy

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports fell for the second month in a row in April to the lowest level since data records began in 2002, affected by the repercussions of the US-Israeli war on Iran, which disrupted shipments from the Gulf region and reshaped the map of global energy trade.

Data from the Joint Data Initiative (JDI), issued today, Monday, showed that the Kingdom’s exports declined to 3.99 million barrels per day in April, compared to 4.974 million barrels per day in March, which is the lowest level recorded since the data began publishing.

The “GODI” initiative is a global platform for statistics on the international oil and gas sectors, and several official international institutions such as the European Statistical Service (Eurostat), the International Energy Agency, and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) contribute to this initiative.

Monthly production

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production also decreased to 6.3 million barrels per day, compared to 6.9 million barrels per day in March, recording the lowest level in available records.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC member countries make their monthly data available to the “Judi” platform, which publishes it on its website.

On the geopolitical level, Qatar and Pakistan, which mediate between the United States and Iran, reported that the two sides made “encouraging progress” during the first round of talks aimed at reaching a final agreement, despite continued tension over Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz.

Big decline

Iranian attacks on Arab Gulf countries have damaged major energy facilities and disrupted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows pass, in response to US-Israeli strikes that began in late February.

The International Energy Agency estimated that the war caused the cessation of more than 14 million barrels per day of oil production in the Middle East.

In light of these developments, the United States became the largest exporter of oil in the world, in a transformation that ended the decades-long dominance of Saudi Arabia and Russia over energy markets, and strengthened the presence of American companies while reshaping the map of global oil trade.

JODI data also showed a decline in the quantities of crude oil processed by Saudi refineries to 2.2 million barrels per day in April, compared to 2.2 million barrels per day in March.

On the other hand, the quantities of crude oil used in direct burning for power generation in the Kingdom increased by 210 thousand barrels per day, reaching 540 thousand barrels per day.