Crude Oil Futures

The crude oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of the commodity, have fallen from 7.307 to 7.235 mbd in March, according to the data provided by the OPEC on regular basis. The fall is significant in light of the war in Ukraine, because analysts expected a steep spike from the Kingdom, when it comes to crude oil exports; it did not happen, though. The unexpected development sheds some light on the reluctance on Saudi's part to increase the production in order to bring the prices down that wreck havoc in the global economy as a whole; by doing so, it is clearly on the crosshairs of its greatest Western ally, the US. On the other hand, as Saudi Arabia exports most of its crude oil to Asia, the drop also ominously reflects the collective state of the economy in the region too; the precarious situation in Sri Lanka and the worsening economic situation in Pakistan are two grim reminders of the current situation that could get worse before getting better at some

  Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company, reported a massive 81% increase in profit during the first quarter this year, thanks to the high oil prices. It went past another milestone last week by dethroning Apple as the most valuable company in the world - for a brief period. Despite the obvious sensitivity over the issue, when the whole world suffers from high crude oil prices, Saudis showed elation over the ; if criticism over pursuing profits at the expense of global economic growth as a whole gets intense, Saudis may defend the achievement by pointing to the losses that the oil giant suffered in the aftermath of the great oil price crash in April, 2020. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been under pressure by the main oil consuming nations in the world for months; the latter demand increased output something that the former resist,  citing lack of investment in the sector as the main reason to elevate the output.   Of course, the Kingdom - along with the UAE -  did not buckle under p