Saudi raises oil output to benefit from prices

Saudi Arabia boosted its oil production by 144,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June apparently to net higher revenue after crude prices climbed by more than $10 a barrel, official figures showed yesterday.

Kuwait increased its production by 30,000 bpd, while Iran cut supplies by 30,000 bpd and the UAE gave no figures for its June output. Qatar pumped about 2,000 bpd below its May output.

Reporting its crude production to the Riyadh-based Joint Oil Data Initiative (Jodi), Saudi Arabia said it pumped 8,357 million bpd in June against 8,213 million bpd in May, an increase of 144,000 bpd.

The June level is nearly 300,000 bpd above its Opec-decreed output quota of 8.05 million bpd.

The kingdom, the world’s dominant oil exporter, had already boosted its crude supplies in May by around 175,000 bpd over April, when its production stood at 8,038 million bpd, according to Jodi, which groups Saudi Arabia with more than 100 other oil producers and consumers.

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