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(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabia is on course to ship the most oil from its ports in almost three years this month, bringing supply to the global market at a time when crude traders are monitoring US-Iran tensions.
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The nation’s crude shipments jumped to 7.3 million barrels a day in the first 24 days of February, the highest since April 2023, tanker tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. If that continues for the rest of the month, that would constitute an increase of just over 400,000 barrels a day compared with January.
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In June, when Israel and the US bombed nuclear and other sites in Iran, Saudi Arabia briefly boosted the amount of oil it pumped. The market is watching for any signs of behavior change among the oil producing giants of the Middle East at a time when US President Donald Trump is considering another attack.
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Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
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The country’s oil production has also been rising as part of a process of unwinding some earlier output cuts.
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That saw its output target increase by 1.125 million barrels a day over the course of 2025. But that process was paused during the first quarter of this year, with ministers due to meet on Sunday to discuss next steps and output plans for April and possibly beyond.
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A seasonal downswing in Saudi Arabia’s internal needs for crude for power generation has freed up more barrels. Direct burning of crude last year peaked at 674,000 barrels a day in June and fell to just 210,000 barrels a day by December, figures submitted to the Joint Organizations Data initiative showed.
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Tanker loadings have increased from ports on both sides of the country, but there hasn’t yet been a decisive shift toward maximizing flows via the Red Sea, which was observed during periods of heightened tension last year and in 2024. Shipments from the Yanbu terminal on the Red Sea coast to foreign destinations stood at 833,000 barrels a day so far this month. That’s the most since October, but still only about two-thirds of the amount seen at the peak in 2024.
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US President Donald Trump has said he wants to resolve the issues with Iran through diplomacy, but in his State of the Union address on Tuesday he cautioned that Iran is working to reconstitute its nuclear program even as it negotiates with Washington.
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On Friday, Trump said that he’s “considering” limited strikes on Iran and has said Tehran had around two weeks to strike a deal over its nuclear program. The US is amassing a large military force in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers, fighter jets and refueling tankers.
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NOTE: The February shipments figure excludes cargoes heading to the kingdom’s Jizan refinery and its power generation or water desalination plants.
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