Saudi Arabia: Oil prices continue to increase in October
On 28 October, the OPEC oil basket traded at USD 84.5 per barrel, up 8.7% from the prior month. Moreover, the price was 66.4% higher on a year-to-date basis and was 113.8% higher than on the same day last year.
The rise in prices in October, was predominately driven by supply concerns and firming demand conditions. Crude oil output levels are expected to tighten in the coming months due to weaker output from the U.S. and ongoing OPEC+ production curtailments—which continues to ease a modest pace. On the demand side, looser Covid—19 restrictions and strong efforts on the vaccine front globally has supported travel demand, and in turn demand for crude oil further supporting prices.
In terms of OPEC production, combined crude oil output among members increased from August’s 26.8 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 27.3 mbpd in September—the latest month for which data is available. This mostly reflected higher output in Iraq and the Nigeria. Moreover, Saudi Arabia output also increased from 9.5 mbpd in August to 9.7 mbpd in September.