Saudi Arabia broke its all-time production record last month as the kingdom continued to ramp up production to meet domestic demand.
Sources told Bloomberg that Saudi Arabia submitted data to OPEC that shows it produced 10.67 million barrels of oil per day in July.
That figure tops the kingdom’s previous record of 10.56 million barrels per day set in June 2015.
The production boost is partially tied to a seasonal increase in domestic demand.
Independent analyst Anas al-Hajji told Bloomberg the production boost is also likely a byproduct of Saudi Arabia processing more crude to grow its share of the products market.
In June, the most recent month that data is available for, OPEC crude output approached an eight-year high as Saudi Arabia and Iran boosted production.
According to S&P Global Platts, OPEC’s crude oil output grew by 300,000 barrels per day to 32.73 million bpd in June.
Saudi Arabia increased its output in June to meet domestic demand and produced an average of 10.33 million barrels per day, down slightly from year-ago levels.
Saudi Arabia has been steadily pumping over 10 million barrels per day since oil prices began declining in late 2014.
Current OPEC president and Qatar Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada said earlier this week that OPEC members will hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum.
The forum will take place in Algeria from September 26 to September 28.
Sada did not comment on whether the group will discuss a production freeze deal.
Two previous attempts to reach a production agreement failed earlier this year after Saudi Arabia said it would not participate if Iran did not also sign on.
Iranian officials have repeatedly said the country would not participate in a production freeze deal and remains focused on ramping production back up to pre-sanction levels.
While oil prices have consistently hovered around the $45 per barrel mark this month, Sada said on Monday that he believes the recent decline prices and the current market volatility is “only temporary.”
“This expectation of higher crude oil demand in third and fourth quarters of 2016, coupled with decrease in availability is leading the analysts to conclude that the current bear market is only temporary and oil price would increase during later part of 2016,” Sada said.
OPEC is set to meet again on November 30 in Vienna.
