Oil sector sources and analysts said that Saudi Arabia's exports of crude oil in May are expected to drop to about 6 million barrels per day, which is the lowest level in almost 10 years, Domestic refining production is likely to decline as demand is affected by the Corona virus crisis.

The world's largest oil exporter is slated to cut crude production by 23% to around 8.5 million bpd in May and June as part of an agreement to cut production with the OPEC alliance. +); To support prices affected by demand collapse due to the public isolation measures associated with the Corona virus.

Sector sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports for May are expected to reach about 6 million barrels per day, of which about 4 million barrels per day will go to Asia.

A source said that exports to the United States of America are expected to be less than 600 thousand barrels per day.

Decline in oil production means lower associated gas production, which is a by-product when extracting crude. Gas is used as feedstock in the petrochemical industry and for electricity generation.

Saudi Arabia is increasingly seeking to increase electricity generation from gas in order to provide crude for exports.

But low global oil demand means that more cheap crude will be available for domestic use, which may mean more oil is consumed this summer when demand for electricity jumps as a result of using it. Air coolers.

In 2019, when Saudi Arabia was producing about 9.9 million bpd, it consumed 550,000 bpd of crude in the summer, down from 700,000 bpd in the previous year. .

However, industry sources now expect consumption to rise slightly from 2019 levels.

In general, domestic demand for oil and its products is expected to weaken.