Saudi Arabia

It would have been a bold prediction a couple of months back to claim that OPEC+ could bring back 2,5 million barrels of crude oil production per day and keep the price of oil at $70 a barrel. This is what happened, as the eight producers of the group rolled back their voluntary reductions of 2.2 million bpd by September and allowed a separate rise for the United Arab Emirates. Eight OPEC+ member countries met virtually on Sunday and agreed to increase output by 547,000 bpd in September. This is an addition to the 548,000 bpd increases for August, the...

SABIC, the Saudi chemical giant and one of the largest petrochemicals firms in the world, announced a second-quarter loss on Sunday. The company had decided to close a cracker plant in the UK as part of a restructuring during a slowdown in the industry. SABIC's net loss for the three-month period ending June 30 was 4,07 billion riyals (about $1.09 billion), a far cry from analyst expectations that it would be a profit in the amount of 504 millions riyals. The opening price of the shares was 53.8 riyals, a decline of 1.6%. SABIC, 70% owned by Saudi Aramco, has...

Data from oil analytics company Kpler revealed that fuel importers in California received gasoline from Saudi Arabia’s Jubail industrial port after maintenance at India's world's biggest refinery helped to open up the rare arbitrage. Kpler reports that three gasoline shipments, totaling 886,000 barrels, from Saudi Arabia's Jubail industrial port have been discharged at Southern California's Olympus terminals in the last few months. California hadn't imported fuel from Saudi Arabia since the year 2022. In 2025, about 40% of the gasoline imported by the terminal came from Jamnagar. This was because Jamnagar had a maintenance shutdown in April. Yui Torikata, Kpler's...

Sources say that India's oil purchases from Russia increased marginally during the first half this year. Private refiners Reliance Industries Ltd. and Nayara Energy accounted for almost half the total. The data shows that India, which is the third largest oil consumer and importer in the world, received approximately 1.75 million barrels of Russian oil per day from January to June this year. This represents a 1% increase over the previous year. State companies buy Russian oil from spot markets, but the two private refiners are bound by term contracts. India's purchases at discounted prices of Russian oil increased after...

The major Gulf stock markets rose early on Tuesday, ahead of U.S. data on inflation due later that day. This indicates investors' positive outlook for talks between Washington and major trading partner countries. After threatening to impose 30% tariffs on imports from Mexico and the European Union from August 1, U.S. president Donald Trump indicated he would be open to discussion on tariffs. The Yomiuri reported that the Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Shiba is planning to meet with U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent this Friday. Investors will also be watching for U.S. consumer prices for June due Tuesday. They are...

The U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a motion Tuesday on climate change, human rights and the Marshall Islands retracted a divisive amendement that asked states to commit to a phased-out fossil fuels. The motion calling for countries to "contribute to global efforts" to combat climate change was passed by consensus. This follows the 2021 council recognition of access to a healthy and clean environment as a right. The original language had revealed divisions amongst the 47 members, after the Marshall Islands, which is one of the most vulnerable countries to rising sea levels and has made an amendment to it...

Five sources claim that OPEC+ producers will approve a big increase in output for September, as they finish unwinding the voluntary output cuts of eight members. They will also allow the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to pump more oil to meet a higher quota. In April, plans to undo cuts of 2,17 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), began with an increase of 138,000 bpd. In May, June, and July, the increase was 411,000 barrels per day (bpd), despite lower oil prices. The group voted on Saturday to approve a 548,000-bpd increase for August. On Monday, five sources familiar...

Saudi Arabia raised its official selling price of its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia in August by $2.20 over the Oman/Dubai median, according to a pricing document published on Sunday by Saudi oil giant Aramco. The price of Arab Light in August is $1 higher than the price in July and the highest price since April when it was $3.50 more expensive than the average price for Oman/Dubai. Documents show that the Gulf Kingdom set its official August Arab Light selling price for Northwest Europe at $4.65 over ICE Brent, and the U.S. market at $3.90 over ASCI. The...

Igor Sechin said that the OPEC+ group, which includes major oil producers around the world, could accelerate its production increases by a year compared to their initial plan. He said the decision of OPEC+ to increase output now looks far-sighted and justifiable in light of the conflict between Israel and Iran. In April, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia shocked the oil markets by agreeing to a larger-than-expected increase in output for May, despite low prices and a slowing of demand. OPEC+ decided to increase prices by more than originally planned. "The...

Hong Kong's chief executive has said that the stock exchange will be attracting listed companies from Southeast Asia and Middle East for second listings, as it looks to improve its global reputation. Bonnie Chan, a spokesperson for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. (HKEX), said that the number of mainland China listed companies seeking to list in Hong Kong in order to raise capital in order to fund their global expansions is also increasing. Chan, the first woman CEO of HKEX, said that they are now focusing on companies who have already been listed on other markets, but may have...

Israel launched strikes against Iran on Friday. It targeted its nuclear facilities, missile factories, and military commanders as part of a long-term operation, which it has warned will be prolonged, to stop Tehran from building atomic weapons. According to the National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company, oil storage and refining plants were not damaged by the attack. Here are some interesting facts about the energy industry of the country, its exports, and the impact that previous Western sanctions had on it. SANCTIONS & OPEC According to OPEC, Iran's oil output peaked in the 1970s. In 1974 it reached a...

The major stock markets in the Gulf rose early on Wednesday, in line with Asian stocks. This was due to signs of progress between the U.S. Both countries' top officials said that they had reached an agreement on a framework for resuming their trade truce and removing China's export restriction on rare earths. The broadest MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan increased by 0.5%. Saudi Arabia's benchmark stock index, which was traded after a break of four sessions, advanced by 1.2%. This was led by an increase of 1.7% in Al Rajhi Bank as well as a rise of...

China's refiners increased their processing rates in the month of July. However, strong crude oil imports from abroad and domestic production meant that there was still an excess of over half a million barrels a day (bpd). Calculations based on data from the official sources show that crude oil surplus in July dropped to 530,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 1.42million bpd. The key is that despite the drop in oil surplus, refiners will likely continue to add to their stockpiles. This will allow them the ability to reduce imports if prices increase to levels they feel are not justified....

It would have been a bold prediction a couple of months back to claim that OPEC+ could bring back 2,5 million barrels of crude oil production per day and keep the price of oil at $70 a barrel. This is what happened, as the eight producers of the group rolled back their voluntary reductions of 2.2 million bpd by September and allowed a separate rise for the United Arab Emirates. Eight OPEC+ member countries met virtually on Sunday and agreed to increase output by 547,000 bpd in September. This is an addition to the 548,000 bpd increases for August, the...

Kuwait's Oil Minister said he is optimistic about the fundamentals of the oil market and that OPEC+'s efforts aim to achieve market balance, according to the state news agency KUNA on Tuesday. Tariq Suleiman Al-Roumi made his comments after the OPEC+ Meeting on Monday. Al-Roumi, along with other ministers of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, met online to have a brief discussion and stress the importance of full compliance with oil agreements. KUNA reported him saying that he was "optimistic" about the fundamentals on the oil market, and that OPEC+'s efforts were aimed at energy security and the market balance....

A panel of OPEC+ members on Monday emphasized the importance of full compliance with oil production agreements, in advance of Sunday's separate meeting of eight OPEC+ member countries to decide whether or not to increase oil output for September. Online, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), which is composed of top energy ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as their allies, led by Russia convened for a brief discussion. The JMMC is a two-monthly meeting that has the authority to call a full OPEC+ meeting to discuss market developments if necessary. In a press release...

United Arab Emirates' energy minister stated on Thursday that the country could increase its oil production after 2027, if the market demands it. This move could push the country into the top five oil producing countries in the world. OPEC granted the UAE a larger production quota for this year. The country argued that it was restricting too much its output after investing heavily to increase capacity from 3 million barrels to 4,85 million. Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei, Energy Minister of the country, told reporters that capacity could increase further after 2027. He said that if the market demanded it, they...

Saudi Arabian oil exports reached their highest level in over a year during June, as the country shipped more crude into overseas storage amid fears that supply disruptions could be caused by conflict in the Middle East. OPEC’s largest producer has intervened on oil markets since decades ago to supply more oil when there are disruptions in the market or reduce output when they feel that the market is oversupplied. Kpler data show that crude exports increased by 450,000 barrels a day (bpd), from the level of May to 6.33 millions bpd, in June. Kpler predicts that there could be...

China continues to accumulate crude oil stocks, despite the fact that it refines less crude oil than it can produce or import. The world's largest oil importer can now buy less in the coming months, as prices rise due to Middle East tensions. Calculations based on data from the Chinese government show that the surplus crude in China reached 1.4 million barrels a day (bpd), the third consecutive month where it was above the 1,000,000 bpd mark. Since June 13, when Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, Tehran has responded with missiles and drones. Brent futures have risen almost 6% in...

China continues to accumulate crude oil stocks, despite the fact that it refines less crude oil than it can produce or import. The world's largest oil importer can now buy less in the coming months, as prices rise due to Middle East tensions. Calculations based on data from the Chinese government show that the surplus crude in China reached 1.4 million barrels a day (bpd), the third consecutive month where it was above the 1,000,000 bpd mark. Since June 13, when Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, Tehran has responded with missiles and drones. Brent futures have risen almost 6% in...

Four sources with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Malaysia's Pengerang Refining Company, or Prefchem, has restarted its residue fluid catalytic (RFCC), after it was shut down for repairs in early 2018. One source said that the run rates of the Pengerang complex, in Johor which produces primarily gasoline, are still not at full capacity. They said that the unit had been closed since the end of January because of technical problems. In addition, the crude processing rate at the 300 000 bpd refinery has also fallen to an average of around 50% in the last four months. Prefchem,...

China's crude oil imports have been positive for the first few months of this year. However, rather than being a sign that fuel demand is improving, the improvement has more to do with rising inventories. Customs data released Friday show that the world's largest crude importer, Saudi Arabia, recorded an average of 11,69 million barrels a day in April. This is down from the 12.1 million bpd it had in March, but up 7.5% from the 10,88 million bpd for the same period last year. The imports in March were the highest since August 2023, and April's relatively strong performance...

A survey shows that OPEC's oil production fell in April despite a planned increase in output. This was due to a reduction in Venezuelan supplies in response to renewed U.S. efforts to reduce the flow of oil and smaller drops in Iraq, Libya, and Libya. According to a survey released on Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produced 26.60 millions barrels of oil per day in March, a decrease of 30,000 barrels per days from the total for the month of March. This was due to a reduction by some producers, which was offset by an increase...

Five sources familiar with the discussions said that Saudi Arabian officials were briefing industry experts and allies to explain the kingdom's unwillingness to support the oil market through further cuts in supply and its ability to handle a long period of low oil prices. Saudi Arabia's possible policy shift could indicate a move to produce more and expand its market share. This would be a major change, after spending five years balancing the oil market by producing a large amount of oil as a member of the OPEC+. These cuts helped to support prices and, as a result, the revenue...