Saudi crude production, exports drop in June

By Summer Said/Dow JonesOil production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude, inched down to 9.642mn bpd in June, compared with 9.657mn bpd a month earlier, while exports fell 6.1% during the same period, official data showed yesterday. The kingdom exported 7.315mn bpd of crude oil and condensate in June, down from 7.789mn barrels a day in May, according to figures posted on the Joint Organization Data Initiative, or JODI, website. JODI is supervised by the Riyadh-based International Energy Forum and shows data supplied directly by governments dating back to 2002. No data was provided for the volume of crude burnt in June in local power stations and water-desalination. Saudi Arabia consumed 547,000 bpd in power stations and water-desalination plants in May, and 778,000 bpd in June 2012. The kingdom’s largest unlisted lender, National Commercial Bank, said in a note earlier this year that the state’s average crude production may fall by 400,000 bpd in 2013 as it curbs supply to meet Opec’s output target. It is expected to produce around 9.5mn bpd on average this year, compared with 9.92mn bpd in 2012, the Jeddah-based bank said. In May Opec kept its oil production ceiling at 30mn bpd in a widely expected move that members described as an easy decision. But concerns about the growing threat from shale oil overshadowed the group’s otherwise smooth meeting. US oil production has risen to a 21-year high on the back of oil unearthed from shale rock formations beneath the plains of Texas and North Dakota. However, a Saudi source familiar with the matter told Dow Jones Newswires earlier this month that strong demand for Saudi crude pushed the kingdom’s output higher to 10.03mn bpd of crude oil in July, compared with 9.64mn barrels a day in June.