DUBAI: Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia pumped 9.15 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in February, an industry source said yesterday, slightly up from the 9.05 million bpd it produced in January.
However, the kingdom slightly cut supply in February to 9.16 million bpd, the source added. It supplied 9.26 million bpd in January.
When crude supply exceeds output the difference is usually made up by oil taken from storage.
Saudi Arabia, Opec’s largest oil producer, expects to raise its oil output in the second quarter to satisfy higher demand from China and feed economic recovery elsewhere.
It cut production sharply in the fourth quarter of last year because of weak economic growth abroad and lower domestic consumption because of cooler winter weather. Crude output from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries rose in February, the first monthly increase since October, due to higher exports from Iraq and increased supply from Saudi Arabia, a Reuters survey found last week.
Supply from the 12-member Opec was 30.32 million bpd, up from 30.21 million bpd in January, the survey of shipping data and sources at oil firms, OPEC and consultants found.
Brent crude futures edged lower on Friday as US jobs data strengthened the dollar, while US petrol futures rallied to a 2013 high because high-priced ethanol credits, or RINs, are raising refiners’ costs and making fuel imports too expensive. Reuters
