Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil exporter, has slashed its selling price for the first time in four months. The state oil company adjusted its prices to Asian and European customers, but not to US customers.

Report that Reuters⁇ Bloomberg And Business Insider Based on a document released yesterday by the state agency.

Locks

aramco In June, it cut the selling price of its main export, Arabian light crude, to $ 4.40 for Asian customers. This price is comparable to the average scales in Oman and Dubai. In May, the company raised the official selling price for Asian customers to $ 9.35 per barrel – a historic increase.

Aramco also slashed the selling price of Arab Light for customers coming from northwestern Europe: it is now $ 2.10 more per barrel – down from a premium of $ 4.60 in May. The ratio is comparable to the Brent benchmark.

There is a price reduction based on Tough locks in ChinaWhere again With heavy hand Against the eleventh outbreak of the corona virus. The world’s second-largest economy – the world’s second-largest oil consumer – The latest economic indicators point to a contraction in production and service activity. That, a Consequence Will be on energy consumption.

United States

There was no change in the selling price of Aramco oil for the United States. The company declined to say why.

When the United States announced in March that it would suspend oil imports from Russia, President Biden sought to hold talks with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Both oil companies wanted to increase production of their black gold – which was intended to curb inflation. But Biden hit a wall.

Completely different

The prospect of a drop in demand is at odds with fears that Russia’s oil supplies could be compromised a month ago. This prompted Saudi Aramco to raise crude oil prices for all regions in May.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said after a meeting last week that current supply-demand indicators point to a balanced market. This was stated in a statement issued by the Saudi Arabia-led group.

The crude oil futures peaked at a 14-year high in early March, with deals trading around $ 140. Brent crude, by international standards, was down about 2 percent to $ 109.89 at the time of writing. WTI was down 2.40 percent at $ 107.14.

Lack of investment

However, crude oil prices are still high – even compared to jet fuel, diesel and petrol. Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman says there is a different reason for this than the war in Ukraine.

At an aviation summit in Riyadh, the Saudi prince suggested: “Fuels for all motions have gone up (…) and the difference between the prices of crude oil and these products is in some cases as high as 60 percent,” Reuters reports. The energy minister argued that this was due to a lack of investment in refining capacity.

Asked if Europe’s geopolitical events would accelerate or impede the transition to clean energy in the Middle Ages, the Saudi official said: “I think this gives us one. True test The reality of the day is how ambitions (…) can be compromised. “

(fjc)