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Saudi Arabia has continued to reduce its oil exports as this year progresses. Crude oil shipments declined 227,000 bpd in February from 7 million bpd in January, as the Kingdom is determined to rebalance the market to support oil prices.
According to data released Thursday by the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) database, which collects self-reported data from 114 countries, crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia totaled 6.977 million bpd in February, against 7.254 million bpd in January and 7.687 million bpd in December 2018, when the Kingdom began to sharply reduce its oil supplies to avoid a new glut.
Saudi Arabia's total crude oil and petroleum product exports decreased 432,000 bpd from January to 8.44 million bpd in February 2019, according to JODI data.
JODI figures, as well as OPEC production figures, show that Saudi Arabia is keeping its commitment to significantly reduce oil supply in the market and to exceed its share of OPEC + production cuts .
In an interview with the Financial Times in February, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the Saudis would cut production to about 9.8 million bpd in March, about 500,000 bpd in March. below the commitment made in the OPEC + agreement. Al-Falih also said Saudi Arabia would cut crude oil exports to nearly 6.9 million bpd in March, up from 8.2 million bpd in November.
Related: Oil could drop to $ 40 if OPEC abandons its market
In early March, Saudi Arabia announced its determination to do "all that is necessary" to rebalance the market by maintaining its crude oil exports to less than 7 million bpd in April, despite requests for more 7.6 million bpd of Saudi oil from its customers. Reducing Saudi Aramco's allocation for April will also mean that the Kingdom's oil output will be "well below 10 million bpd" in April, a Saudi official told Reuters.
Saudi Arabia, the leading producer and de facto leader of OPEC, has said it will do everything necessary to rebalance the market (and support oil prices), and has followed through on its commitment to reduce much more than expected in the pact, March output reached its lowest level in four years.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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