Saudi Arabia reportedly cuts production by 2 million barrels per day in response to potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Reuters, two sources said that Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has cut oil production by about 2 million barrels per day (bpd) to about 8 million bpd after shutting down some production at two major offshore oil fields. The sources said that although Saudi Arabia is diverting more crude oil to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, production has already fallen to about 8 million bpd after the closure of the Safaniya and Zuluf offshore oil fields. Another source said that Saudi production has fallen below 8 million bpd. These two offshore oil fields mainly produce heavy and medium-heavy crude oil, with an output exceeding 2 million bpd, while the pipeline to Yanbu mainly transports light crude oil. A drop to 8 million bpd would be a significant decrease from February, when Saudi Arabia supplied the market with 10.111 million bpd, with production at 10.882 million bpd. Sources at the time said the production increase in February was a contingency plan in response to a possible U.S. strike on Iran and disruption of Middle Eastern supplies.