Saudi oil exports rise 143,000 barrels per day in January: JODI

Saudi Arabian oil exports rose 143,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January month-on-month, according to government data published Sunday, as the world's leading crude seller increased supplies to the United States.
Saudi Arabia produced 9.871 million bpd crude in January, 61,000 bpd more than December, while exports rose more than twice as much to 7.507 million bpd, according to the Joint Data Initiative. Contrary to expectations that the modest rise in the kingdom's output would be mostly sold to Asian or European consumers looking for alternatives to Iranian oil.