Saudi oil output rises to 9.3 m bpd in April

ALKHOBAR: Saudi Arabia produced 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil in April, up from 9.14 million bpd in March, an industry source said.
Supply to the domestic and export markets was around 9.2 million bpd, up slightly from the 9.15 million bpd supplied in March, the source said. The other 100,000 bpd of oil produced is likely to have been put into storage.
Export figures were not available.
Sources familiar with Saudi oil policy said in late April that they expected external demand for Saudi crude to remain steady from March through June 2013.
But Saudi Arabia’s own crude oil demand for power generation has jumped by an average of 147,000 bpd from March to April in the previous three years, according to a Reuters analysis of official data.
The increase from March to April 2012 was much lower, however, at just 64,000 bpd, due to more gas supply coming on line in early 2012 to feed Saudi power plants.
Benchmark Brent crude oil, trading near $ 104.85 a barrel yesterday, has fallen from almost $ 120 in February on concerns about the global economic outlook, though it is still above Saudi Arabia’s preferred level of $ 100.
According to the latest Reuters survey, overall OPEC crude oil output rebounded in April from its lowest monthly level in more than a year due to the end of export disruptions in Iraq and Libya and a rise in Iranian sales.
OPEC is scheduled to meet in Vienna at the end of May. In early April, it trimmed its forecast for global growth in oil demand in 2013.
Even if export demand for Saudi oil weakens over the next few months, the rise in its own use for power plants to meet a surge in air conditioning demand should support Saudi production over the summer.
Oil slipped from its highest in nearly a month above $ 105 a barrel yesterday.
Brent crude was down 20 cents at $ 103.99 by 1315 GMT, having earlier touched $ 105.49, the highest since April 11.
US oil was down 59 cents at $ 95.02, having earlier reached $97.17.
Brent has gained as much as 9 percent in less than three weeks since reaching a 2013 low of $ 96.75 on April 18. Its high for the year is $ 119.17 reached on Feb. 8. Prices rallied on Friday in response to an upbeat US jobs report.
Morgan Stanley cited signs of a stronger physical market for Brent, such as a drop in expected Nigerian crude exports and supply of North Sea crude Ekofisk in June.
“Crude oil fundamentals continue to tighten, with supply disappointing yet again,” the bank said in a report. “The key risk remains weak demand.”