State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Company, saw its average crude production rise to 9.506 million barrels a day in 2012, the highest level in more than three decades, up from 9.067 million barrels per year earlier.
Recoverable and proven crude-oil and condensate reserves also increased to 260.2 billion barrels in 2012, compared with 259.7 billion barrels in 2011, Saudi Aramco said in an annual review posted on its website.
“During 2012 at Saudi Aramco, we responded to market conditions by producing crude oil at the highest level in our company’s history,” Aramco President and CEO Khalid al-Falih said in a forward to the report.
The Saudi company’s crude exports last year rose to 6.888 million b/d, up 4% from 6.633 million b/d in 2011.
Exports of crude reached 2.521 billion barrels for the year, or about 6.9 million barrels a day, up from 2.421 billion barrels, or 6.63 million barrels a day in 2011.
Saudi Arabia’s current capacity stands at 12.5 million barrels a day, a level it believes is well beyond current levels demanded and a reliable buffer against any temporary loss of production in the market.
Aramco’s gas production averaged 10.72 billion cubic feet a day in 2012 from 9.88 billion cubic feet a day in 2011, while gas reserves rose to 284.8 trillion standard cubic feet from 282.6 trillion standard cubic feet.
Saudi Aramco is fully owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world with activities in exploration, production, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing.
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