Saudi Arabia benefited from oil prices hitting a 2021 peak in October. That month, exports increased up to a total of $ 28 billion, said the General Statistics Office.

77.6% of total exports is crude oil, up from 66.1% a year earlier. Meanwhile, the total value of exports was almost double of October 2020's.

The office said the value of oil exports in October 2021 was 123% higher than a year ago, while the value of oil exports is up by 25.5%.

Apparently, one of the world's largest oil exporters took full advantage of the rebound in oil demand this year, boosting both exports and selling prices, despite lingering fears on the pandemic.

Although omicron threatened new lockdowns and restrictions, Saudi Arabia raised its official selling prices to Asian buyers by $ 0.60 a barrel.

This move shows that producers are confident that oil demand will remain robust despite the pandemic.

Confidence was also shown when OPEC decided to ramp up production by another 400,000 b/p in January, despite the US asking to release up to 50 million barrels of oil in an effort to lower retail oil prices.

Saudi Arabia's finance minister said that thanks to higher oil prices, the first budget surplus in a decade is expected next year. Al-Jadaan also said they will continue to diversify and discipline government spending.

This year, the treasury department expects GDP growth to be 2.9%, and in 2022 it will grow to 7.4%.