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Saudi Arabia is making good on its threat to flood the world with oil, according to data from satellite images. Saudi loadings of oil onto tankers have surged reaching as high as 14.8 million barrels on Wednesday, the day that production agreements with OPEC and Russia formally ended, according to Alex Booth, head of market research at Kpler, which tracks oil flows.

That number is roughly double the kingdom’s average daily export of about 7.4 million barrels a day in January and February.

As Saudi exports spiked, oil prices rose Thursday. President Trump told reporters Wednesday that he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end their price war. “I think that they will work it out over the next few days, “ Mr. Trump said, Reuters reported.

The Saudis also appear to be raising production, analysts say. Antoine Halff, a founding partner of Kayrros, which monitors oil industry activity by satellite, said the firm had recently detected more flaring of natural gas, possible evidence of a rapid output increase, in the Ghawar field, the world’s largest oil field.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/business/stock-market-today-coronavirus.html