Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports slipped in April to a five-month low, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Monday.
Crude exports from the world’s largest oil exporter fell to 7.316 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, down about 3% from the 7.523 million bpd in March.
Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to JODI, which publishes them on its website.
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Saudi crude output was steady at 10.46 million bpd in April, while inventories rose by 1.98 million barrels to 149.4 million barrels.
Domestic refineries processed 42,000 bpd less crude at 2.69 million bpd, even as exports of refined products rose by 75,000 bpd to 1.547 million bpd.
Saudi Arabia this month pledged to make a deep cut to its output in July, on top of a broader OPEC+ deal to limit supply into 2024, and raised the prices of its Arab Light crude to Asian buyers in July to a six-month high.
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As a result, Asian refiners are likely to take less oil from Saudi Arabia for July and buy more spot cargoes, such as those from the United Arab Emirates, traders said.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have repeatedly said that they are not targeting a specific price for oil, yet some OPEC observers said that the organisation needed higher oil prices because of accelerating inflation.
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