Saudi Arabia received as much as $326 billion in oil revenues for 2022. It was its biggest oil sales haul in the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman era. However, monthly payments have decreased in recent months after oil prices slid to around $80 per barrel at the end of last year. Saudi Arabia recorded its highest oil revenues back in 2012.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the rise in oil prices last year, especially the spike in the first half to over $100 a barrel, raised the revenues for the world’s largest crude oil exporter. The value of oil exports accounted for more than 70% of all Saudi exports last year.
In December 2022, oil exports increased by 11.1% yearly to $22.8 billion (85.5 billion Saudi riyals). Still, they fell compared to November, according to data released by Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Statistics on Tuesday. The authority said the share of oil exports in total exports increased from 71.9% in December 2021 to 79.0% in December 2022.
Due to the oil sales, India, China, and Japan were Saudi Arabia’s main export trading partners in December 2022.
Due to inflationary pressures and soaring energy prices, while many economies floundered in 2022, Saudi Arabia’s economy grew by 8.7% last year, thanks to its oil industry and exports.
According to flash estimates, real GDP grew 5.4% compared to the same period in 2021 in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the real GDP during 2022 rose by 8.7% compared to 2021, the General Authority for Statistics said last month. Saudi economic growth was the highest among the G20 group of countries.
Saudi Arabia also booked its first annual budget surplus in nearly a decade thanks to rising oil income. Analysts believe the Kingdom needs oil prices at $75-80 per barrel to balance its budget.
Source- Tsvetana Paraskova for oilprice.com
