Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in September rose 3% from the previous month to 5.75 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the Joint Organizations Data Initiative (JODI) showed on Thursday.

The world’s largest oil exporter’s crude oil production, meanwhile, increased 0.7% to 8.98 million bpd.

Domestic refineries’ crude throughput rose 0.336 million bpd to 2.866 million bpd while direct crude burn fell by 120,000 bpd to 606,000 bpd.

Monthly export figures are provided by Riyadh and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to JODI, which publishes them on its website.

Saudi Arabia’s crude exports drop to 28-month low in August

Separately, Saudi Arabia kept its December official selling price unchanged from the previous month for its Arab light crude for Asian buyers.

Saudi Arabia and Russia, part of the OPEC+ group of producers, this month confirmed they would continue with additional voluntary oil output cuts until the end of the year as concern over demand and economic growth continue to weigh on crude markets.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Tuesday raised its oil demand growth forecasts for this year and next, though its 2024 outlook remains much lower than that of OPEC.