Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia pumped around 10.040 million barrels per day of crude oil last month, the highest in three decades, on higher demand and requests from customers, an oil official from the Gulf country said Wednesday.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia pumped around 10.040 million barrels per
day of crude oil last month, the highest in three decades, on higher demand and
requests from customers, an oil official from the Gulf country said Wednesday.
The figure, which excludes condensates, "rose due to higher demand and as
a response to customers' requests," the official told Dow Jones Newswires.
The 10 million figure is significantly above prior estimates of November Saudi
output and comes amid continued economic anxiety over the eurozone and as
Libyan oil returns to market more quickly than previously thought.
The Saudi official declined to say whether the customers were European buyers
or Asian.
Saudi officials, including Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, have used the 10
million figure in public comments in recent days ahead of a Dec. 14 meeting of
the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. There have been occasional
calls in recent weeks from some OPEC countries such as
Iran
and
Iraq
for
Saudi
Arabia
to reduce its output.
A Dow Jones Newswires survey earlier this month showed Saudi oil output at
9.417 million barrels per day in November and 9.45 million barrels a day in
October.
Khalif al Falih, chief executive of state-giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or
Aramco, said Tuesday that the firm would continue to be "very
responsive" to customers' crude requirements.
Saudi Arabia
has
previously pledged to raise its output to as much as 10 million barrels a day
after an OPEC meeting broke up in June without an agreement.
OPEC splintered into two camps:
Gulf states
led
by
Saudi Arabia
that
advocated for a 1.5-million-barrel-a-day increase to meet demand in the market
after the loss of oil supplies from
Libya
, and
other nations that opposed the move because of an uncertain outlook for the
global economy.
In July, the kingdom produced an average 9.85 million barrels a day to meet
higher demand in
Asia
and domestically to help
offset a major disruption in Libyan crude, Saudi officials said.
A top Iranian oil official Wednesday said he expects OPEC to reach agreement
next week. When asked a reaction to
Saudi
Arabia
's output boost at a time when
Libya
oil
is returning, Muhammad Ali Khatibi, OPEC's
Iran
governor, downplayed any risk of new rift between members.
"We are very optimistic" a consensus will be reached at the next
meeting Dec. 14 if there is no "outside interference," Khatibi said.
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