Saudi Arabia's April crude exports slip to 10-month low

Saudi Arabia's April crude oil exports fell to their lowest level since June 2020, official data showed on Thursday.

Crude exports from the world's top exporter slipped to 5.408 million barrels per day (bpd) from 5.427 million bpd in March, while crude output edged lower to 8.134 million bpd in April from 8.138 million bpd the previous month, data showed.

Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI), which publishes them on its website.

OPEC and its allies agreed to extend most oil output cuts into April but Saudi Arabia said it would extend its voluntary oil output cut of 1 million bpd, and would decide in following months when to gradually phase it out.

Goldman Sachs said in a research note this week it expected the kingdom's oil production to rise by about 500,000 bpd to 10 million bpd by the end of 2021.

Saudi's domestic refinery crude throughput fell to 2.295 million bpd, while crude stocks rose to 134.085 million barrels in April.

Exports of oil products edged up to 1.216 million bpd in April, while demand for oil products rose to 2.15 million bpd in the same period.

The kingdom's gross domestic product fell 3% in the first quarter, slightly less than official estimates and compared with a 1% contraction last year, as a sharp fall in the oil sector pulled back the economy, data showed.