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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s shipments of refined products grew 32 percent in 2021, compared with the previous 12 months, as the Kingdom exported more diesel and fuel oil, according to official data.

Diesel and fuel oil were the two main products that drove exports higher, with 1.34 million barrels per day being shipped, Saudi data released by the Joint Organisations Data Initiative showed.

Exports of diesel, or gasoil, which makes up for half of total refined oil exports, grew 35 percent year-on-year in 2021, to an average of 682,000 bpd. 

Shipments of fuel oil surged 117 percent to 156,000 bpd.

Exports-to-production ratio

Looking at the exports-to-production ratio — a measure used to explain how much is exported from the total produced — the figure showed Saudi Arabia shipped 61 percent of the diesel it produced in 2021, compared to 51 percent in 2020. 

For gasoline the ratio remained unchanged at 33 percent, while it increased to 37 percent from 21 percent in 2020 for fuel oil.

Growth in exports outpaced growth in production by approximately 2 times.

Refined products output

Saudi Arabia’s 2021 output of refined products averaged 2.55 million bpd, 16 percent more than in 2020, according to JODI data.

Similar to exports, growth in total refined oil output was also driven mainly by diesel, its biggest component having a 44-percent share in 2021 total refined oil output. Output of diesel oil grew 13 percent from 2020 to 1 million bpd in 2021. 

The production of motor and aviation gasoline, the second biggest component having a 21-percent share in total output, also increased — by 20 percent in 2021 to 544,000 bpd.

Both output and exports of refined oil fell at an annual rate of 15 and 22 percent in the pandemic year of 2020.

Last month of 2021

As for the last month of 2021, the Kingdom’s total refined oil output fell to 2.79 million barrels per day, or 2 percent, from 2.84 million bpd in November, data from the JODI showed. 

In December 2021 Saudi Arabia exported 1.67 million bps of refined oil, 8 percent more than in November a 16 percent increase from December 2020.

Exports grew 38 percent from December 2020 to the highest since December 2018.