Saudi Arabia Reduced Oil Production by a Quarter
Saudi Arabia has reduced oil production by 2.8 million barrels, or 26%, to 8 million barrels per day due to the conflict in the Middle East caused by the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, Reuters reported, citing sources.
“The world’s largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has cut oil production by about 2 million barrels per day to around 8 million barrels per day after reducing output at two major offshore fields,” the agency writes.
Reuters emphasizes that the reduction of Saudi oil production to 8 million barrels per day is a significant decrease compared to February, when the country supplied 10.111 million barrels per day to the market and produced 10.882 million barrels per day. The increase in production in February, the agency believes, was a contingency plan in case any U.S. strike on Iran disrupted supply chains in the Middle East.
Representatives of the state oil company Saudi Aramco declined to comment to Reuters.
The United States and Israel on February 28 began striking facilities in Iran, including in Tehran, with reports of destruction and civilian casualties. Iran is carrying out retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on U.S. military facilities in the Middle East.
As a result of these events, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, has almost come to a halt. This is a key route for global supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Persian Gulf countries, accounting for about 20% of global supplies of oil and petroleum products, as well as LNG.
