Saudi Crude Supply Falls to Three-Decade Low in August, IEA Says

Saudi Arabia's crude supply fell by 2.3 million barrels per day month-on-month to 6 million bpd in August, the lowest level in more than three decades, the International Energy Agency said, pointing to attacks on Saudi energy facilities.

The decline followed strikes by groups linked to Yemen's Houthis on ships transiting the Bab el-Mandeb, on Saudi Arabia's Jazan refinery and on shipping near Yanbu, the IEA said in its monthly oil market report. Iran-backed militias in Iraq also used drones to hit the Abqaiq oil processing site, it added.

The agency's estimate of Saudi supply for August is lower than the figure Riyadh gave to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Saudi Arabia told OPEC it supplied 7.122 million bpd last month, while reporting production of 6.238 million bpd — close to the IEA's supply number.

Supply is an industry measure intended to show how much oil is reaching the market. It covers a country's oil exports, including loadings from storage, plus domestic use in refineries and power plants.

In the same report, the IEA cut its forecast for Saudi crude supply in 2026 by 885,000 bpd to 7.6 million bpd, citing a delayed recovery in Middle East Gulf production.

Saudi crude loadings, including from the Red Sea and assessed so-called dark shipping transits, dropped by 1.1 million bpd on the month to 3.5 million bpd, while inventories fell by 400,000 bpd, the IEA said.