A rapid first-half recovery in the oil price has improved Saudi Arabia's balance sheet, but the world's biggest oil exporter is still looking at a full-year budget deficit, two top Saudi financial institutions predict. The average price of Saudi crude in the first six months was $51.80 per barrel, while production averaged 7.94 million barrels per day, Jeddah-based National Commercial Bank (NCB) said this week. The bank forecasts that Saudi prices will average $54/bbl for the whole year with production averaging 8 million b/d, resulting in revenues of nearly 512 billion riyals ($136 billion) - or almost 60% lower than last year's windfall.
展开▼
