Revenue from Saudi Arabia’s overseas oil sales fell for a sixth straight month, but still capped a year in which the kingdom amassed the highest annual revenue during Mohammed bin Salman’s time as crown prince and de facto ruler.
The second-biggest windfall in Saudi history gives the crown prince more money to fuel his drive to diversify and open up the economy of the world’s biggest crude exporter. Saudi officials have repeatedly said the kingdom wants to use its windfall to accelerate projects that help wean it off oil.
With crude prices ending last year near $80 a barrel after soaring into triple digits, Saudi Arabia raked in 85.5 billion riyals ($22.8 billion) in December from export of raw and refined products, according to data from the Kingdom’s General Statistics Authority.
Although monthly revenues were the lowest in nearly a year, oil revenues for 2022 reached nearly $326 billion, putting the Saudi budget in surplus for the first time in nearly a decade . The record annual oil revenue came in 2012.
With the cost of raw materials rising after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Saudi economy grew by about 8.7 percent last year, the fastest among the Group of 20.
