Saudi Arabia increased oil production by 14.2% in July 2026 compared with June, to 8.135 million barrels per day. Exports rose by 3.3% month-on-month to 4.125 million barrels per day, according to data from the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI).

Saudi Arabia

In June, Saudi Arabia produced 7.122 million barrels of oil per day. On a year-on-year basis, however, production in July fell by 11.6%.

Oil exports amounted to 4.125 million barrels per day in July, compared with 3.993 million barrels per day a month earlier. Compared with July 2025, shipments declined by 31.2%.

The year-on-year decline in exports comes amid the conflict in the Middle East and restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Under these conditions, Saudi Aramco was forced to restructure its supply logistics, redirecting part of its crude through the East–West trunk oil pipeline to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The company had previously increased the pipeline’s capacity from 5 million to 7 million barrels per day to reduce its dependence on shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Venezuela

Venezuela’s oil production increased by 1.1% in July 2026 compared with June, reaching 1.2 million barrels per day. On a year-on-year basis, production rose by 10.7%.

In recent months, the United States has imported more than 500,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude, equivalent to around half of the country’s current production. The supplies are being delivered to U.S. refineries designed to process heavy Venezuelan crude.

In addition, it was reported on August 31, 2026, that the United States and Venezuela had agreed on a 25-year contract aimed at increasing oil production to 1.5 million barrels per day. Under the agreement, around USD 19 from each barrel produced will be transferred directly to Venezuela.

The country’s oil exports amounted to 855,000 barrels per day, compared with 863,000 barrels per day in June. In July 2025, Venezuela did not export any oil.

United States

According to JODI’s preliminary estimate, U.S. oil production increased by 0.2% in July compared with June, reaching 13.817 million barrels per day. The June figure was revised to 13.792 million barrels per day.

On a year-on-year basis, U.S. oil production increased by 1.3%, from 13.642 million barrels per day in July 2025.

According to preliminary JODI data, U.S. crude exports amounted to 3.521 million barrels per day in July. The figure stood at 4.735 million barrels per day in June and 3.52 million barrels per day a year earlier.

Thus, U.S. oil exports fell by 25.6% month-on-month, while remaining virtually unchanged compared with July 2025.

Author: A. Chizhevsky