Saudi Arabia cuts oil production to around 8 million barrels per day after offshore field closures

Saudi Arabia has reduced its oil production by roughly 2 million barrels per day to about 8 million barrels per day after partial shutdowns at the Safaniya and Zuluf offshore oil fields, two sources told Reuters. The kingdom is redirecting more crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, but output has still dropped to around 8 million barrels per day, with another source indicating it has fallen below that level. Safaniya and Zuluf mainly produce heavy and medium-heavy crude with combined capacity above 2 million barrels per day, while the pipeline to Yanbu primarily carries light crude. A cut to 8 million barrels per day marks a sharp pullback from February, when Saudi Arabia supplied 10.111 million barrels per day to the market and produced 10.882 million barrels per day, levels that sources said were part of an emergency plan to address potential U.S. strikes on Iran that could threaten Middle Eastern supplies.