Alwaght- Saudi Arabia's oil production hit an all-time high record in November, as US President Donald Trump mounts pressure on the kingdom's scandal-ridden de facto ruler to refrain from production cuts at an OPEC meeting next week.
Reuters news agency cited and unnamed industry source, who is familiar with the matter, as saying that Saudi crude oil production hit 11.1-11.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, despite reports that the regime was weighing up cutting oil output by up to 1 million barrels per day.
Reuters report comes while OPEC's next week meeting aims to consider how to arrest a decline in oil prices.
Saudi oil industry sources have signaled they wanted prices to stay above $70 per barrel and Saudi energy minister Khalid al Falih said this month global oil supply could exceed demand by over 1 million bpd next year, requiring OPEC to take action.
Falih said earlier this month that state oil giant Saudi Aramco would ship 0.5 million bpd less crude in December than in November as demand from customers was lower.
Possibly complicating Saudi decisions on oil output is the crisis around the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul last month.
Trump stood behind Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite calls from many US politicians to impose stiff sanctions on Riyadh. Prince Mohammed is the ultimate Saudi oil policy maker and Saudi watchers have said the Prince will try to avoid confrontation with Washington, including on oil prices.
The United States is not a member of OPEC and is not participating in the output reduction. Trump has repeatedly called on OPEC to refrain from cuts and has raised pressure on the Saudi regime in the last few days.
On Sunday, Trump thanked himself for lower oil prices and compared it to a big tax cut for the US economy.
“So great that oil prices are falling (thank you President T),” Trump tweeted, referring to himself.
Last week, Trump tweeted: “Oil prices are getting lower... Thank you Saudi Arabia but let’s go lower”.
