Saudi to pump up to 11m bpd oil in July

Saudi Arabia plans to pump up to 11 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in July, the highest in its history, up from about 10.8 million bpd in June, an industry source familiar with Saudi oil production plans told Reuters yesterday. OPEC agreed with Russia and other oil-producing allies on Saturday to raise output from July by about 1 million bpd, with Saudi Arabia pledging a “measurable” supply boost but giving no specific numbers. It was not immediately clear whether most of the output will move towards exports or Saudi inventories. A second industry source said the boost in output “will go to the market” without giving more details. The move by Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, is a clear indication it is serious about bringing oil prices down, after major consumers such as the United States, China and India raised concerns that prices were rising too high, too quickly.