Saudi Arabia produced an unexpectedly high 9.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in June, according to global oil database Jodi, a rebound of nearly 500,000 bpd from May and far more than analysts had estimated.

Output ran at 9.401 million bpd, the Jodi Website showed (www.Jodidata.org), the highest since March. Output in May was 8.93 million bpd, its lowest in more than a year.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top exporter, trimmed production in the second quarter to match falling demand from oil refiners as they shut down for seasonal maintenance, but gradually raised output over the summer, analysts have estimated.
However, the Jodi figure is higher than the 9.2 million bpd estimate in a Reuters poll of analysts, shippers and industry sources for June. The poll estimated Saudi output in August at 9.3 million bpd.
Separately, Ibrahim Mishari, vice-president of marketing and supply planning, told a forum in Singapore that the kingdom was pumping around 9.0 million bpd, but he declined to be more precise or say whether output had risen or fallen lately.
Oil refiners say they have seen few indications that Saudi Arabia has ramped up production in recent months as new projects in the Caspian, Russia, Africa and elsewhere sate demand and global crude oil inventories remain relatively healthy.
The Joint Oil Data Initiative (Jodi) database was opened to the public last November as global leaders called for increased transparency in energy markets. It receives official production data from around 90 contributing countries.
 Jodi data also showed a dip in Kuwaiti production in June to 2.55 million bpd from around 2.65 million bpd in the first quarter. Production in Iran, which pumped about 4.1 million bpd in the first quarter, fell to 4.01 million bpd in May but recovered to 4.056 million bpd in June, according to Jodi.