Oil Price Saudi Arabia Today — Live SAR per Litre

Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company) is the world's largest oil producer and one of the most profitable companies in history. Founded in 1933 as the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (a Chevron predecessor), it became fully nationalised by Saudi Arabia in 1980. Aramco manages Saudi Arabia's vast oil and gas reserves and is responsible for approximately 10% of global oil supply.

• Production capacity: Saudi Arabia has a maximum sustainable capacity of approximately 12 million barrels per day. Actual production is managed within OPEC+ quota agreements — typically ranging from 9–11 million bbl/day depending on the market context. The Ghawar field (the world's largest conventional oil field) alone produces around 3.8 million bbl/day.
• Proven reserves: Saudi Arabia holds approximately 266 billion barrels of proven oil reserves — the second largest in the world after Venezuela. At current production rates, this represents over 60 years of supply from existing fields alone.
• Lifting cost: Saudi Aramco's production cost (lifting cost) is among the lowest in the world at approximately $3–5 per barrel — compared to $20–40 for shale oil in the US. This low cost base gives Saudi Arabia enormous flexibility in setting production quotas and competitive pricing.
• IPO: Saudi Aramco's 2019 IPO on the Tadawul (Saudi Stock Exchange) raised $25.6 billion — the world's largest IPO at the time. The Saudi government retains approximately 98% ownership. Aramco's market capitalisation regularly exceeds $2 trillion, making it the world's most valuable company by market cap.

Saudi Arabia is the de facto leader of OPEC+ — the expanded OPEC alliance that includes Russia, UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, and other producers. Saudi Arabia frequently makes unilateral production decisions that set the tone for the entire group, including "voluntary" cuts announced individually alongside the group agreement.

Saudi Arabia's oil strategy balances two competing interests: maximising oil revenue (requires higher prices) versus preventing demand destruction and market share loss to US shale (requires avoiding prices that are too high). The Kingdom's fiscal breakeven oil price (the crude price needed to balance the Saudi government budget) is approximately $70–80/barrel, setting a practical floor below which Saudi Arabia aggressively cuts production to support prices.

The Saudi-Russia OPEC+ relationship is the critical axis of global oil market management. When Saudi Arabia and Russia agree to coordinate cuts, they can materially tighten the global oil market. When they disagree (as in March 2020), their production battle can crash prices. The 2020 price war was resolved within weeks as economic pain on both sides forced a deal.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 plan acknowledges Saudi Arabia's excessive oil dependence and aims to diversify the economy — reducing oil's share of government revenue from ~70% to 50% by 2030, and building new industries in tourism (NEOM, Red Sea Project), entertainment, technology, and manufacturing. ARAMCO's profits fund this diversification through dividends to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF).

The irony of Vision 2030 is that it requires enormous oil revenue to fund the diversification — meaning Saudi Arabia simultaneously wants high prices to finance the transition away from oil dependence. This fiscal necessity explains Saudi Arabia's consistent willingness to cut production to support Brent above its fiscal breakeven level.