Saudi Arabia’s earnings from crude oil exports and products such as diesel fell to their lowest level since February, according to the kingdom’s statistics agency on Thursday.
According to the agency, the kingdom’s earnings from oil exports were $25.5 billion in October, the lowest since February, when Russia started its war with Ukraine, sending the price of oil surging.
The drop in revenue reflects the impact of a weakening global economy and widespread inflation on the price of oil. According to Moody’s, a financial credit rating company, global inflation reached a record 12 percent in October.
Nonetheless, Saudi Arabia had a record year for oil sales and is on course to perhaps exceed its 2012 record for oil income of $337 billion, according to Bloomberg. Saudi Arabia collected $278 billion in oil income in the first nine months of 2022.
The country’s oil exports reached $30 billion in March, the highest level in six years. Furthermore, the $25 billion number is larger than any other month between January 2016 and February 2022.
Saudi Aramco, the national oil corporation worth more than $2 trillion, announced a 90 percent gain in earnings during the second quarter compared to the previous year in August.
Earlier this month, the kingdom declared a $27 billion budget surplus, accounting for 2.6 percent of Saudi Arabia’s GDP (GDP).
Opec+, the group of oil exporting countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, resolved in October to reduce oil output by two million barrels per day. The US strongly condemned the decision and announced shortly after that it would reevaluate relations with the country.
The decision infuriated US legislators, who introduced legislation to restrict military aid to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
However, the outcry has subsided since petrol prices in the United States have dropped significantly. This week, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $3.10, down from $3.78 at the end of September.
Source – MEE
