(BOE Report) – Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports rose to 7.276 million barrels per day in February, from 6.993 million bpd in January, while crude output hit its highest level since October 2022, Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) data showed on Tuesday.
Saudi production in February was about 10.882 million bpd, the JODI data showed, up from 10.100 million bpd in January.
Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to JODI, a data transparency initiative coordinated by energy organisations including OPEC and the IEA. The Iran war has caused supply shocks and driven oil prices higher, flipping 2026 market expectations from surplus to deficit and intensifying fears of scarcity.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is facing growing challenges in moving its crude to global markets as the conflict prevents tankers exiting the Gulf.
Heightened security risks and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have reduced vessel movements to a minimum, constraining export flows despite ample production capacity.
“Amid the tensions in the Middle East and ahead of the start of the conflict, production and export were increased to fill up storage abroad, as volumes supplied to the market were lower in February,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. OPEC lowered its forecast for world oil demand in the second quarter by 500,000 bpd, the producer group’s monthly oil report showed in its first public assessment of the Iran war’s impact. OPEC+ had agreed earlier this month to raise its oil output quotas by 206,000 bpd for May, a rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production.
Saudi Arabia’s refinery crude throughput in February rose by 0.207 million bpd to 3.012 million bpd from January’s 2.805 million bpd, the JODI data showed, while direct crude burning increased by 21,000 bpd to 248,000 bpd.
(Reporting by Anjana Anil in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexander Smith)
