Saudi crude exports hit five-month high
Saudi Arabia’s crude exports rose about 7.9 percent in August from July to 4.451 million barrels per day, the highest since March, while its oil production fell to a record low of 6.24 million bpd, the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed Wednesday, Reuters reported. Production was 8.135 million bpd in July and 6.560 million bpd in May.
Exports were 4.125 million bpd in July. In March, they were 4.974 million bpd, JODI data showed in May.
Refinery crude throughput fell by 181,000 bpd to 2.297 million bpd in August from 2.478 million bpd in July, and direct crude burning rose by 43,000 bpd to 604,097 bpd.
Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members provide the monthly export figures that JODI publishes, and its Saudi data goes back to 2002, Reuters reported Aug. 20.
Norway’s gas production plunges 12.6pc
Norway’s oil and gas production declined sharply in September, with natural gas output falling 12.6 percent from August, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD).
Total petroleum production averaged approximately 3.77 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down 10.4 percent month-on-month and 4 percent below the directorate’s forecast.
The decline comes at a sensitive time for European energy markets, with the winter heating season approaching and Norway remaining the continent’s largest supplier of pipeline natural gas.
However, the September slowdown contrasts with a stronger underlying trend: Norwegian petroleum production during the first nine months of 2026 remained 2.9 percent above the corresponding period last year.
Norwegian natural gas production averaged 298.4 million standard cubic meters per day in September, down from approximately 341.6 million cubic meters per day in August.
The decline of 43.2 million cubic meters per day was particularly significant because production also fell 6.7 percent below the directorate’s forecast of 319.9 million cubic meters per day.
Total gas sales reached approximately 9 billion cubic meters during September, compared with 10.6 billion cubic meters in August.
New coal projects around globe
Plans for new coal projects are outpacing cancellations three to one worldwide, including in Turkey and Australia, the hosts of this year’s Cop31 climate summit, according to a database of the coal industry.
Urgewald, a German environmental group, said in the latest update of its Global Coal Exit List on Tuesday that 257 new coal projects were announced over the past year, while 76 planned projects were shelved or cancelled in 2025.
The pipeline of new coal mining, power, chemicals and infrastructure projects has grown to 1,510, and more than 40 percent of the listed companies are developing new thermal coal assets.
“For every shelved project, three new projects were announced,” Pacôme David-Mauduit, a senior researcher at Urgewald, said.
EU milk production
Resilient production across major exporting basins prompts Ornua to project a 2.2 percent increase in global milk availability for 2026.
Annual global milk supplies are now forecast to expand by 2.2 percent across 2026, propelled by resilient output across the world’s primary dairy exporting regions, according to the October 2026 Market Report released by Irish dairy cooperative exporter Ornua. The upward projection reflects robust raw milk collections that have largely outpaced earlier seasonal disruptions, demonstrating underlying biological and operational momentum across key production sheds. Looking ahead, Ornua projects global volume expansion to moderate to approximately 1.0 percent in 2027. However, market analysts emphasize that the eventual development and intensity of the El Niño weather pattern introduces substantial climatic uncertainty, posing potential volatility for Southern Hemisphere pasture growth and global feed availability over the coming production cycles.
In the European Union, raw milk collections have shown surprising structural resilience despite localized weather headwinds. According to the report, EU milk production expanded by 1.1 percent in September, reflecting a seasonal deceleration compared to the 2.5 percent growth recorded in August.
USDA: The global imbalance between wheat production
Global Wheat production in the 2026/27 marketing year is estimated at 822.39 million tons, whilst consumption is projected to reach 827.9 million tons. In other words, the global consumption forecast by analysts at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will exceed production of this cereal by 5.51 million tons. A month earlier, the forecast for the potential imbalance was significantly lower – at 1.6 million tons.
This is evidenced by data from the USDA’s October WASDE report. The deterioration in the global supply-demand balance heightens the risks of further increases in wheat prices. According to expert estimates, the deterioration in the global balance could help stabilise wheat prices within the range of $230–260/t. Global wheat prices have raised by 44.8 percent over the past year, and the reduction in supply is creating the conditions for prices to remain high. At the same time, the USDA has lowered its forecast for global wheat trade to 208.97 million tons (2.8 million tons below the September estimate). End-of-year global stocks are forecast at 276.04 million tons, which is 250,000 tons less than the previous forecast. Against the backdrop of a deteriorating global supply-demand balance, some exporters are stepping up their shipments. In particular, the forecast for wheat exports from the EU has been raised from 28 to 32 million tons (with production at around 133 million tons).