Saudi crude exports fall in Dec to 7.486m bpd: JODI

[DUBAI] Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in December fell by more than 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the month before, official data showed on Thursday.

The Opec heavyweight shipped 7.486 million bpd in December, down from 7.719 million bpd in November. Production was steady at 10.144 million bpd in December, compared with 10.186 million bpd in November, the data showed.

Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI), which published them on its website.

Domestic refineries processed 2.312 million bpd of crude, compared with 2.054 million bpd in November, while exports of refined oil products rose to 1.441 million bpd in December from 1.182 million bpd the month before.

In December, crude directly burnt to generate power fell to 392,000 bpd, from 497,000 bpd in November, the JODI data showed, reflecting a decline in electricity consumption from the hot summer months when air conditioning use is at its highest.

REUTERS