Aramco has urged Asian buyers to buy more Saudi crude for October loading after the world’s top crude exporter slashed its prices for Asia for next month, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
Saudi Arabia earlier this week slashed the price of crude oil it sells to Asia, with the premium for the flagship Arab Light grade set at $2.20 a barrel over the Dubai/Oman benchmark for cargoes to be delivered in October.
The price was cut by $1 per barrel compared to September—a steeper cut than the $0.40 to $0.70 per barrel reduction analysts had expected.
The prices of other Saudi grades were also cut for October, by between $0.90 and $1 per barrel.
The price cut comes after Arab Light prices for September loadings were raised to a five-month high of $3.20 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, the Middle East benchmark, off which shipments to Asia are priced.
The price hike for September cargoes likely reflected Saudi Arabia’s view of strong demand in Asia.
Last month Saudi Aramco expressed a very bullish view on demand in the second half of the year, with president and CEO Amin Nasser saying “Market fundamentals remain strong and we anticipate oil demand in the second half of 2025 to be more than two million barrels per day higher than the first half.”
But this week’s deep price cut, which followed OPEC+’s announcement it is tapping the last layer of production cuts of 1.65 million barrels per day (bpd), is likely the result of the renewed Saudi strategy to reclaim market share in the world’s top crude-importing region.
At the APPEC conference in Singapore this week, representatives from Saudi Aramco discussed the idea of more Saudi shipments to Asian buyers next month, according to Reuters’ anonymous sources.
The discussions are partly to blame for a delay in Saudi allocations for October until next week, two of the sources told Reuters.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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