Saudi Arabia cuts oil prices for Asia amid market shifts — Reuters
The country may lower its official selling prices for crude oil to Asian buyers. Saudi Arabia is likely to cut its official selling prices (OSP) for oil to Asia in July for the second consecutive month. This comes amid volatility in the global oil market and shifts in demand.
This is reported by Reuters.
The main reason for this move was a noticeable decline in spot premiums due to sluggish demand, which even offset the impact of fuel supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
According to industry sources cited by Reuters, the July price of the flagship Arab Light crude could drop to a premium of $7.50 to $12.50 per barrel relative to the average prices on the Dubai and Oman markets.
This forecast implies a price drop of $3–8 per barrel compared to June figures. The expected decline in value comes amid falling prices and sluggish trading in the spot market observed in May.
In particular, the premium of the cash price in Dubai over swaps averaged $8.90 per barrel at the beginning of this month, while in April this figure stood at $13.92. Spot premiums in Oman also showed a similar downward trend.
As a reminder, amid the escalating situation in the Middle East, the discount on Russian Urals crude began to rise for the first time in recent months. However, experts say that high oil prices will not save the Russian economy from a slowdown.
The price of Russian Urals crude at Indian ports jumped to a record $121.65 per barrel.
