Saudi Arabia's oil exports to US Nosedive



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Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports to the United States are in free fall, shipments are only 1.6 million barrels, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared to 5.75 million barrels ago a year.

For the whole of January, Saudi Arabia exported only 2.69 million barrels of crude oil to the United States. This decline follows Saudi Arabia's decision to reduce its crude oil production – mainly heavy crude grades – by more than it agreed at the December OPEC + meeting in the United States. prospect of rising oil prices.

An analyst told Bloomberg that the Kingdom's oil exports to US refiners could even drop to zero, but this is unlikely to happen.

"We could see Saudi oil imports falling to zero on the US Gulf Coast," said Lipow Oil Associates' Lipow Oil Associates. "OPEC member countries believe that prices are too low and that they will do what is necessary to restore the market in equilibrium."

Yet refiners on the west coast of the United States have a limited choice of suppliers and some of the Saudi oil will continue to go, at least.

While shipments to the US are dropping, however, the amount of Saudi oil destined for China will increase this year, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing an unidentified source aware.

Last year, Saudi crude oil shipments in China averaged 1 million bpd, but this year could reach 1.5 million bpd by the end of the first quarter, as the Saudis are actively seeking more market share. important for the second largest oil consumer in the world. Unlike the United States, local production is not abundant and imports are needed to meet demand.

Total Saudi oil exports next month are expected to fall to 7 million bpd, with the Kingdom's production decreasing by half a million barrels each day more than its quota, which is expected to reach 9.8 million bpd on next month.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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