Saudi Crude Prices to Asia Slump to Four-Year Low on Weak Demand

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest crude oil exporter, has cut its January 2025 prices for Asian buyers to the lowest level since early 2021, it said on Sunday, as weak demand from top importer China weighs on the market.

Aramco cut the official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude by 80 cents to 90 cents per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average, the producer said in its price list for buyers.

Lower prices will make Saudi Arabian crude more competitive with rival Russian and U.S. oil in Asia.

The Arab Light OSP is the lowest since January 2021 when global demand was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but is still considerably above prices seen at the peak of the Saudi-Russia market share war in 2020, when the grade sold at a discount of as much as $5.90 a barrel, Reuters data showed.

Aramco's prices follow OPEC+'s decision on Thursday to extend production curbs into the first quarter of 2025, with the Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman saying it would not make sense to bring additional barrels back into the market at a time when stocks usually build.

"As mirrored in last week's OPEC+ decision, the cut in OSP is unlikely to be an attempt to reclaim market share but more of a reflection of sluggish demand from the region in general and from China in particular," said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

China's crude oil imports are on track to peak as soon as next year as its transport fuel demand begins to decline, ending the country's decades-long run as the dominant driver of expanding oil consumption.

The Arab Light Asia price cut was in line with the 70-90 cents per barrel reduction forecast in a Reuters survey of six Asian refining sources, largely tracking a slump in Middle East benchmark prices last month.

Saudi Aramco also steeply cut prices for European consumers while keeping prices steady for those in the United States.

OPEC+, made up of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, has repeatedly postponed the production hike, citing weak global demand and in particular the slowdown in Chinese demand.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com