KSA to ramp up production to a record 10.8 mn bpd

Saudi Arabia reportedly plans to pump a record 10.8 mn barrels of crude a day starting July under a pact with OPEC that should see global oil output rise by 1 mn bpd for the second half of the year, unnamed sources tell Bloomberg. Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih said last week that Saudi would contribute “hundreds of thousands” of oil barrels to global supply as of next month, without specifying an amount. Months of underproduction had sent oil prices surging beyond the USD 80 bbl mark last month, before falling back to USD 75-76 per bbl. Higher oil output and lower prices are good news for Egypt, which has been in talks with international firms over fuel hedging strategies.