Saudi Aramco’s Crude Production Reaches Near-Record High in 2014

Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabian Oil Co. boosted its crude production in 2014 to 9.5 million barrels per day, a near all-time high, while adding reserves despite a supply glut that has cut oil prices by almost half.

As quoted in the market news:

Saudi Aramco, as the state-owned company is known, produced 9.5 million barrels a day of crude last year, up from 9.4 million barrels a day in 2013, according to the annual review the company posted on its website Monday. Natural gas output rose to 11.3 billion standard cubic feet a day from 11 billion, it said.

The company discovered five gas fields and three oil deposits in 2014 and “booked reserves that significantly exceeded production, despite the fact our combined oil and gas production approached an all-time high,” former Chief Executive Officer Khalid Al-Falih said in the review.

Aramco increased oil production amid a global glut that drove benchmark prices down almost 50 percent last year. OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, chose in November to keep pumping crude to protect its share of the market rather than cutting output to boost prices. The 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced more than 31 million barrels a day last month, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

The Saudi company’s oil reserves grew to 261.1 billion barrels in 2014 from 260.2 in 2013, while reserves of gas increased to 294 trillion standard cubic feet from 288.4 trillion, the review showed. The company said it maintains an oil-production capacity of 12 million barrels a day.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.