JODI: Saudi Arabia Crude Exports Sink To Record Lows
JODI: Saudi Arabia Crude Exports Sink To Record Lows Global clean energy manufacturing investment… Alex Kimani is a veteran finance writer, investor, engineer and researcher for Safehaven.com.
Saudi Arabia's crude oil exportsplummetedto 4.974 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, marking the lowest level on record since the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) began tracking the data.
According to official figures released on May 20, 2026, and cited by Reuters, shipments from the world's top oil exporter dropped sharply by 31.6% month-on-month from the 7.276 million bpd recorded in February.
Saudi production in March clocked in at 6.967 million bpd, down from 10.882 million bpd in February, also the lowest on record, as the war in Iran disrupted operations.
Refinery throughput fell by 746,000 bpd, down to 2.266 million bpd, while direct crude burning increased by 82,000 bpd to reach 330,000 bpd.
The Middle East conflict has heavily choked offcommercial tanker flowsmoving out of the Persian Gulf.
With the Strait of Hormuz facing shipping blockades, Saudi Arabia activated its emergency protocol and pushed the East-West pipeline (Petroline) to its maximum operational rate of 7 million bpd.
This allows Saudi Aramco to reroute crude from eastern fields to the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu, keeping ~5% of its total export volume flowing to global markets despite the Strait of Hormuz blockade.
However, theEast-West pipelinefaces considerable export limitations. Whereas the pipeline can handle 7 million bpd across the Arabian desert, port logistics at Yanbu restrict crude volumes that can actually be placed on tankers, with 2 million bpd siphoned off to supply local Saudi refineries such as Samref in Yanbu, leaving just 5 million bpd designated for global exports via Yanbu's North and South terminals.
Indeed,Yanbu's nominal loading capacityand berthing space is closer to 4 million to 4.5 million bpd, falling short of the volumes that transit the pipeline.
To compound matters, tankers sailing from the Red Sea port of Yanbu to Asian markets such as India, China and Japan must take longer routes through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and around the Arabian Peninsula, significantly increasing shipping times and costs compared to direct Gulf departures.
Nigeria Targets 100,000-BPD Oil Output Increase As Global Supply Disrupted Alex Kimani is a veteran finance writer, investor, engineer and researcher for Safehaven.com.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | ▲ +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | ▲ +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | ▲ +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | ▲ +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | ▼ -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | ▲ +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | ▼ -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | ▲ +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | ▼ -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | ▲ +0.92% |
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