Saudi Arabia opened the taps in May, increasing its oil output ahead of a critical meeting of crude-producing nations that will determine whether it’s time to unwind a deal to limit production.
The Saudis reported the supply spike following reports that the Trump administration sought assurances that Riyadh would raise output to offset the impact of Washington restoring sanctions on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s chief regional rival and OPEC’s third biggest producer.
OPEC’s top producer said it hiked output by 161,000 barrels a day in May. That brought the Saudis’ monthly production to just over 10 million barrels a day, pushing it towards the ceiling it agreed to in November, 2017.
