DUBAI: OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports edged up in September by around 59,000 barrels per day (bpd) while volumes used by domestic refineries remained high, official data showed on Tuesday.
The world's top oil exporter shipped 6.722 million bpd of crude in September, up from 6.663 million in August but lower than July's 6.989 million, data published by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) showed.
Production rose to 9.704 million in September from 9.597 million in August but was lower than July's 10.005 million, the data showed.
An industry source told Reuters this month that crude supplies for both exports and the domestic market fell by some 328,000 bpd, to 9.36 million bpd in September, from 9.688 million in August.
Total oil products exports were 787,000 bpd in September, down from 1.023 million bpd the month before, the data showed.
Refiners processed 2.035 million bpd of crude in September versus 2.167 million in August and 1.915 million in July, the JODI data showed.
Meanwhile, Saudi oil use for power generation fell to 648,000 bpd in September from 769,000 in August and 899,000 in July.
Oil markets closely monitor changes in output from Saudi Arabia, which has enough spare capacity to significantly alter production according to demand.
OPEC meets on Nov. 27 to decide on its output policy amid some calls by members of the producer group to cut output to shore up oil prices which have fallen to $80 a barrel from $115 in June on abundant supply and weakening demand.
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