The value of Saudi Arabia's oil exports soared by 123%, or by $16.7 billion, in March 2022 compared to the same month last year, the General Authority for Statistics of the world's top crude oil exporter said on Wednesday.
Moreover, the share of oil exports in total exports jumped from 69.5% in March 2021 to 80.2% in March 2022, the data showed, as oil prices spiked above $100 a barrel in March after Russia invaded Ukraine.
The higher oil prices more than offset the slight drop in Saudi crude oil exports in March compared to February.
The total value of all Saudi exports doubled to $37.9 billion (142.2 billion Saudi riyals) in March 2022 compared to March 2021, chiefly thanks to the $16.7 billion (62.9 billion riyals)-or 123%-jump in the value of oil exports, the Saudi statistics authority said.
In the first quarter of 2022, the value of Saudi oil exports soared by $35.6 billion (133.6 billion riyals), or by 90.3%, compared to the first quarter of 2021, the authority said in a separate estimate today. Oil exports at high prices were the main reason for a surge in total Saudi merchandise exports between January and March.
The share of oil exports in total exports increased from 71.1% in Q1 2021 to 78.3% in Q1 2022.
Thanks to the high oil prices, Saudi Arabia is set to receive a windfall of oil revenues this year, which will also push its economic growth higher than earlier estimates, the IMF and other forecasters say.
Oil revenues in Saudi Arabia are expected to surge by 66 percent this year to around $249 billion, Riyadh-based Jadwa Investment said earlier this month.
For the first quarter alone, Saudi Arabia recorded its highest economic growth rate in the last ten years, at 9.6%, compared to the same quarter of 2021, according to flash estimates by the General Authority for Statistics, which attributed the growth to oil activities and exports.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Comments
On the other hand, the fact that the share of oil exports in total exports jumped from 69.5% in March 2021 to 80.2% in March 2022 indicates that even with diversification, Saudi Arabia will remain overwhelmingly an oil-based economy well into the future.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London