Saudi exports dropped in Nov with oil revenue falling by 40%

Iraq to lower oil output to compensate for OPEC breach

Saudi Arabia’s exports fell by more than a quarter in November compared with a year ago, driven by another drop in oil demand.

Total revenue was 58.2 billion riyals ($15.5 billion), down from 80.8 billion riyals a year earlier, according to a statement from the General Authority for Statistics. Oil exports fell 39.8 per cent during the month.

Meanwhile, Iraq plans to cut oil output in January and February to make up for breaching its OPEC+ quota last year, according to the state company that markets the nation’s crude.

OPEC’S second-biggest producer will pump around 3.6 million barrels daily for the two months, according to Ali Nizar, the deputy head of SOMO. That would be the lowest level since 2015 and compares with around 3.85 million in December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Exports, including those from the semiautonomous northern region of Kurdistan, will be slightly more than 3 million barrels a day during the period, Nizar said in an interview in Baghdad, the capital. The figure for last month was almost 3.3 million.

Baghdad’s ability to meet these targets depends on whether the Kurdistan Regional Government agrees to reduce supplies from fields under its control, Nizar said. The central government has complained in the past that it can’t control Kurdish production.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners such as Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+, agreed in April to slash output and bolster oil prices, which had been hammered by the spread of the coronavirus. Saudi Arabia criticized Iraq and other members including Nigeria for pumping above their caps on several occasions and called on them to make compensatory cuts.

Iraq is still committed to the OPEC+ deal, which runs until next year, Nizar said.

Total revenue was 58.2 billion riyals ($15.5 billion), down from 80.8 billion riyals a year earlier, according to a statement from the General Authority for Statistics