MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2018) Saudi Arabia, the only oil producer able to adjust its output, will not be able to produce 12 million barrels per day to cover Iranian oil exports once the United States introduces restrictions banning them in November, media reported.
The state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Company, known as Saudi Aramco, had been informing its customers its crude would be in short supply in October, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing Saudi officials.
Moreover, the company would not be able to meet the demand for crude in the long term once Tehran, currently producing around 1.9 million barrels per day, wold be be banned from exporting oil, the outlet added.
August's OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report showed that Saudi Arabia's output reached 10.44 million barrels per day that month.
"[Producing] 11 million [barrels a day] is already a stretch, even for just a few months," a Saudi official told the Wall Street Journal.
A senior US official told the outlet that according to Washington's estimates, Riyadh would not be able to boost its oil production to 12 million barrels a day.
The outlet also noted fears that the situation might result in oil prices hike to above $80 per barrel.
"It's not just Iran that will suffer. It's going to have a boomerang effect with rising gasoline prices [in the U.S.]," a trader told the publication.
Saudi Arabia has been increasing its oil production over the recent months under the US pressure aimed at offsetting the losses from Iran.
In late June, US President Donald Trump said he had asked Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to boost daily oil production by 2 million barrels, adding that the king had agreed to do so. However, the White House specified subsequently that King Salman had told Trump the country had 2 million barrels per day of spare capacity that could be used if needed.
The United States has been reintroducing sanctions on Iran after Washington pulled out from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iranian nuclear deal in May.
