Lower crude oil prices dragged Saudi Arabia’s oil export revenues to the lowest level in more than three years in August, amid underwhelming oil demand and continued supply constraints from the world’s top crude exporter.
The value of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports in August 2024 stood at $17.4 billion (65.3 billion Saudi riyals), down by 15.5% from $20.6 billion (77.3 billion riyals) in August 2023, data from the Kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics showed on Thursday.
The August 2024 oil export revenues also fell by 6% from July, and hit their lowest level for any month since June 2021, according to Bloomberg’s estimates.
Oil prices fell throughout August and most of September as concerns about global oil demand, especially in China, intensified. Brent briefly topped $80 per barrel in early October as the Iran-Israel conflict flared up, again, before pulling back to $75 a barrel. The market continues to expect an Israeli response to the Iranian missile attack on Israel on October 1.
As prices lingered in the low $70s in August, Saudi Arabia’s oil export revenues suffered and so did the Kingdom’s overall merchandise trade exports, the statistics data showed.
Merchandise exports fell by 9.8% in August 2024 compared to August 2023, as a result of a 15.5% slump in oil exports. Consequently, the percentage of oil exports out of total exports dropped from 75.1% in August 2023 to 70.3% in August 2024, the statistics authority said.
Next year, the Saudi economy and oil export revenues are set for a rebound if OPEC+ keeps its current pledge to begin reversing the production cuts in December.
Saudi Arabia’s economy is set to grow by 4.4% next year, accelerating to the highest in three years from 1.3% growth expected for 2024, as OPEC+ is set to begin unwinding its oil production cuts, a Reuters poll of economists showed earlier this week.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com