Minister promises marked drop in Saudi crude sales to U.S. Kingdom shipped more crude to U.S. so far this year than 2016 After sparing its prized U.S. market from oil-output cuts, Saudi Arabia plans to “markedly” reduce exports to its political ally in the coming weeks in an effort to reduce swollen and highly visible crude inventories in the world’s biggest consumer. “Exports to the U.S. will drop measurably,” Energy and Industry Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters after chairing a meeting between OPEC and other major producers in Vienna on Thursday. Saudi crude shipments to the U.S. will fall below 1 million barrels a day next month, said two people briefed on the kingdom’s oil policy, a reduction of more than 15 percent from the average so far this year. Al-Falih spoke after the group of 24 nations agreed to extend their production curbs for another nine months until […]