Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, cut its prices for Asian crude buyers close to the lowest level in four years on Wednesday, in what the market sees as the country’s attempt to regain market share.
Saudi Arabia has pushed OPEC+ this year to raise its output targets ahead of schedule.
OPEC+ has cited healthy demand and low stocks as the reasons behind increasing production. Healthy demand and low stocks would normally prompt producers to raise selling prices.
Saudi Arabia’s state firm Aramco cut the official selling price (OSP) for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia for July to $1.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average. The OSP premium for June was $1.40 a barrel and $1.20 in May.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Jane Merriman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)