Saudi Arabia makes deep cuts to crude prices for Asia

SINGAPORE, Jan 6 (Reuters) – The world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has cut the official selling price (OSP) for all grades of crude it is selling to Asia in February by at least $1 a barrel, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The deep price cuts come on the back of rising supplies as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, together known as OPEC+, decided this week to add another 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) of supply in February, as it has done each month since August. read more

The fall in crude costs could support margins for top refiners across Asia, such as Japan’s ENEOS Holdings (5020.T), China’s Sinopec (600028.SS) and India’s Reliance Industries (RELI.NS).

State oil giant Saudi Aramco (2222.SE) set the February OSP for Arab Light crude at $2.20 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, down $1.10 from the previous month, they said.

The February OSP for the flagship crude is the lowest in three months.

Saudi Aramco had been expected to make deep price cuts for February after Middle East benchmarks and spot prices slumped last month owing to rising supplies. read more

However, the sources said the price cuts were still smaller than industry expectations.

For example, the OSP for Arab Light was expected to have fallen by at least $1.30 a barrel, a Reuters survey showed.

	FEB	JAN	CHANGE
SUPER LIGHT	5.15	6.15	-1.00
EXTRA LIGHT	3.20	4.50	-1.30
LIGHT	2.20	3.30	-1.10
MEDIUM	2.05	3.05	-1.00
HEAVY	0.70	1.80	-1.10

Reporting by Florence Tan Editing by David Goodman

This article was originally published by Reuters.