October 18, 2023 [Oil Price]- The spare oil production capacity of the world’s largest crude exporter, Saudi Aramco, currently stands at 3 million barrels per day (bpd), the chief executive of the Saudi oil giant said on Tuesday.
Saudi Aramco can raise its oil production “in a couple of weeks” if necessary, the company’s CEO Amin Nasser said during the Energy Intelligence Forum in London, as carried by Reuters.
The spare oil production capacity of the world’s largest oil firm has increased in recent months as Saudi Arabia is cutting crude output as part of the OPEC+ agreement and is further reducing production by an extra 1 million bpd in a voluntary cut until the end of 2023.
After extending the voluntary production reduction for a month for two consecutive months, Saudi Arabia said in September it would extend the extra cut until the end of 2023. The Kingdom is currently pumping around 9 million bpd.
As a result of the cuts, Saudi Arabia’s crude exports plunged to a 28-month low in August, data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Monday. Saudi crude oil exports fell to 5.58 million bpd in August, down by 428,000 bpd from July—the lowest level in 28 months, according to the latest available data in JODI, which compiles self-reported data from many countries.
Aramco’s Nasser also said today at the forum that he expects global oil demand to average around 103 million bpd in the second half of 2023.
Last week, OPEC said it expects global oil demand to rise by 2.4 million bpd this year and by another 2.2 million bpd next year amid the improving Chinese economy, leaving its demand forecast for both 2023 and 2024 unchanged, despite fears of slowing economies and demand destruction.
World oil demand is set to reach a record average of 102.1 million bpd in 2023, driven by a 2.3-million-bpd demand increase in the non-OECD region, OPEC noted.
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