The World's 3 Biggest Oil Exporters Saw Shipments Slump in August

• The combined crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States fell by nearly 700,000 barrels per day in August.
• The decline was primarily driven by a drop in U.S. exports, followed by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
• Tightening U.S. crude supplies and rising domestic demand in Saudi Arabia contributed to the lower exports.

The world’s ‘Big 3’ crude oil exporters – Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United States – saw their combined shipments slump by nearly 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August from July to a multi-year low share of global seaborne crude exports, an analysis by oil flow tracking firm Vortexa showed on Wednesday.

Total crude exports from Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the U.S. fell to 12.7 million bpd last month, down by nearly 700,000 bpd month-on-month.

Despite the major drop in ‘Big-3’ exports, global exports fell by just 260,000 bpd in August from July, as other exporters raised shipments, Jay Maroo, Head of Market Intelligence & Analysis (MENA) at Vortexa, wrote in the insight.

The U.S. saw the steepest plunge in exports among the Big 3, with shipments falling by about 540,000 bpd. Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil exporter, saw its exports drop by 110,000 bpd and Russia’s shipments fell by 40,000 bpd in August compared to July.

U.S. exports declined to their lowest monthly total since January 2023, Vortexa’s data showed. Shipments of 3.7 million bpd in August saw an especially slow start to the month.

“Tighter US crude supplies, as seen via sharp draws in Cushing inventories, have come partly as a result of struggling US production growth,” Vortexa’s Maroo noted.

August, however, was likely the bottom for U.S. crude exports as flows to Europe have been ramping up, according to Vortexa.

The lower Saudi crude exports weren’t surprising for the month of August, considering the higher demand for oil burn for power generation in the Kingdom, Vortexa’s analysis showed.

In the coming weeks, Saudi exports may pick up, as domestic power generation needs are expected to wane, potentially freeing up supply for exports.

Russia’s exports fell slightly in August, but they could further drop if China’s oil demand continues to deteriorate. Moscow – unlike Riyadh – doesn’t have willing buyers of its crude lining up to snap up Russian crude, Vortexa notes.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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