Saudi Aramco announced the new official prices for selling shipments of Arab Light crude to its customers in Asia, Europe and the United States, during the month of July (2023).
The company went against expectations and decided to raise the official sale price of Saudi Arabian Light crude oil to its customers in Asia by 45 US cents to $3 per barrel above the average prices of the Sultanate of Oman/Dubai, according to the pricing document seen by the specialized energy platform.
Aramco’s decision to raise the selling prices of Arab crude came after the Kingdom (the world’s largest oil exporter) pledged to cut production by another million barrels per day in July, subject to extension, to counter the macroeconomic headwinds that caused stagnation in the markets.
This comes contrary to the expectations of a number of analysts to reduce prices with the decline in oil prices during the recent period, as the price of Brent crude futures contracts fell to less than $ 75 a barrel, at the end of trading in the last week of last May.
At the same time, Saudi Aramco announced that it had raised all prices for its customers in Europe, while moving most of the degrees to America.
Saudi oil selling prices
The new decision regarding the price of a barrel of Saudi oil comes from Aramco, in contrast to the recent cut decision, which followed 3 consecutive increases in Arab crude prices, in March, April and May.
And the selling prices for customers of the Saudi oil giant in Asia fell to their lowest levels in 15 months, last February (2023), according to the figures monitored by the specialized energy platform.
Crude oil prices have witnessed, during the past weeks, since last March, a number of recurring crises in the global economy, starting with the banking crisis, passing through weak Chinese demand after ending Corona restrictions, and ending with the US debt ceiling crisis.
Crude oil prices fell to their lowest levels in May, falling to less than $72 a barrel for Brent crude, while WTI fell to less than $68 a barrel.
It is noteworthy that a recent opinion poll had expected that Saudi Aramco would reduce selling prices to Asia in next July, at a time when markets were awaiting the next OPEC + meeting to determine production policy, after the decision to additionally voluntary cut 9 of the coalition countries, by 1.66 million. barrels per day, according to what was published by Reuters.
Oil refining in Asia
Last May, Middle East oil refining margins in Asia fell to their lowest level in 6 months at $2.35 a barrel, while diesel margins fell by 27% in April, according to the specialized energy platform.
This came in conjunction with the efforts of the Korean company S-Oil, owned by Saudi Aramco, to increase its profits from oil refining margins during the second quarter of this year 2023, especially since it had declined significantly during the first quarter of this year.
The company supports its expectations of increasing profits by increasing the demand for automobile fuel during the summer driving season, and dwindling supplies due to global refinery maintenance, especially as demand for gasoline and jet fuel rises with the approaching peak demand period in China.
It is noteworthy that Saudi Aramco sells up to 60% of shipments of Arab Light Crude to its customers in Asia, led by China, Japan, Korea and India. Most of these shipments are sold under long-term contracts, so the company reviews its prices on a monthly basis to determine prices. sale new.
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