Sharply rising oil prices pushed Saudi Arabia’s oil export revenues to their highest level since 2018 last year, and the current combination of tight market fundamentals and volatile geopolitics point to bumper earnings for 2022.

Oil export revenues soared by 72% to $206bn in 2021 (see chart 1), while the $64.2bn Q4 figure was the highest for any quarter since prices first collapsed in late 2014. The increase came despite Saudi Arabia’s crude oil production dipping by 100,000 b/d to an 11-year low of 9.12mn b/d for 2021, with gross oil exports in turn dropping to an 11-year low 7.56mn b/d according to the latest Jodi statistics (see chart 2 and table). (CONTINUED - 743 WORDS)