Saudis surge oil output even as prices drop

Saudi Arabia has raced ahead of Russia to become the world’s leading oil producer, Sputnik news agency has quoted a the Emirati news website Aliqtisadi as saying in a report on Wednesday.

Although oil prices are at a multi-year low, Saudi Arabia has ramped up production, offering discounts to buyers as it aims to drive up its market share. Saudi Arabia previously said that it would use its position in OPEC to support high prices.

In the first nine months of 2015, Saudi Arabia produced around 10.19 million barrels per day, compared to Russia’s 10.12 million.

Over the same nine-month period, global oil production grew by 1.8 percent, even as oil prices fell by over 15 percent over nine months and a total of 60 percent since they peaked in June 2014.

Saudi Arabia’s previous all-time production peak was in 2012, when Brent oil cost around $112 per barrel, compared to $46 today, Sputnik news agency reported.

Oil prices retreated Wednesday as official data revealed another rise in US crude stockpiles, adding to concerns about a global supply glut.

Prices had surged Tuesday on heightened geopolitical tensions sparked by Turkey’s shooting down of a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border.

Analysts warned that further escalation could affect crude supplies from the oil-producing Middle East, noting however that the world was currently experiencing a supply glut that has caused prices to slump over the past 18 months.

The US Department of Energy on Wednesday revealed that American commercial crude inventories climbed by one million barrels last week — in line with market expectations.

Following the data, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in January was down 17 cents at $42.70 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for January shed 41 cents compared with Tuesday’s close to stand at $45.71 a barrel around 1800 GMT.