Saudi Arabia is pumping at its highest rate in five months, and in March pipped Russia as the word’s most prolific oil producer, according to the latest data from Zawya Dow Jones and JODI.
The Kingdom pumped 9.923 million barrels a day in March, up from 9.853 million barrels a day in February, overtaking Russia as the world’s largest producer for the first time in six years. Exports ran to over 7.7 million bpd.
Meanwhile, Russian average daily production dipped to 9.920 million barrels a day, according to JODI figures. The government is impatient to kick start a mammoth arctic drilling program with a view to reversing declines in production capacity. One deal with Exxon and Rosneft could see a total of $500 billion poured into north Russia’s hazardous waters.
Saudi currently has 80 million barrels of oil stored in Aramco tanks in Okinawa, Rotterdam and Sidi Kerir, a fact Saudi’s Oil Minister Ali Naimi has been keen to talk up in a bid to push oil prices down to his declared target of $100 a barrel.
Naimi says the Kingdom has a further 2.5 million bpd of production capacity to call on iff required, but says markets are well supplied.
