Saudi Arabia raised its October official selling price (OSP) for its Arab light crude to Asia by 10 cents a barrel to $3.60 a barrel over the Oman/Dubai average, according to a statement from state oil company Saudi Aramco.
Five refining sources surveyed by Reuters had said the OSP for flagship Arab Light crude could increase by about 45 cents a barrel from the previous month, which would have been the grade’s highest price so far this year.
Saudi Aramco’s OSPs usually set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting about 9 million bpd of crude bound for Asia.
Saudi Arabia and Russia on Tuesday extended their voluntary oil cuts to the end of the year, the former to the tune of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) and the latter by 300,000 bpd, on top of the April cut agreed by several OPEC+ producers running to the end of 2024.
These fresh cuts had driven a rally in oil prices above $90 a barrel, but they have since eased.
But Middle East crude benchmarks jumped on Wednesday on expectations that the fresh cuts would further tighten crude supply, especially sour grades, in the global market.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
