Middle East
Saudi oil export prospects on the mend
Doha: Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi expects that foreign demand for Saudi crude will increase in the next few months.
State-run Saudi Aramco severely reduced production in the fourth quarter of last year due to weak economic growth abroad and reduced consumption due to the unusually cold weather in the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has kept production unchanged at about 9.05 to 9.15m barrels per day in January and February.
Demand from China is seen as the main driver of Saudi oil exports, and the Chinese economy looks to be strengthening once again.
China imported 1.08m bpd of crude from Saudi Arabia in 2012, up 7.24% from 2011. [02/04/13]