Saudi oil capacity tested… The Economist

The Economist discusses whether Saudi Arabia can make up for lost Iranian exports, here:

“Even if Saudi Arabia wants to fill the gap left by Iran, it is not clear that it can. That is in part because Saudi output is already so high. As Iranian exports have dropped since May, when Mr Trump announced the sanctions, Saudi Arabian exports have picked up. The kingdom is producing more than 10.5m barrels of oil a day (b/d); officials claim the capacity to produce around 12m. “They can reach about 11m barrels with relative ease,” explains Neil Atkinson, head of oil markets at the iea. Analysts debate how quickly—or whether—the country can ramp up to 12m b/d. “They have never actually proven they can do that,” says Ehsan Khoman of mufg, a bank.”