Saudi Arabia has slightly lowered the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light crude oil to Asia in September, a pricing document reviewed by Reuters showed on Thursday.
State oil company Saudi Aramco set the OSP for Arab Light to Asia at $2 a barrel below the Oman/Dubai average for September, the document showed. That marks the lowest level since June 2020 and compares with minus $1.50 a barrel in the previous month, when the kingdom cut the price by the biggest amount in more than two decades.
The small cut for September OSPs followed a decline in the spot benchmark price last month.
Dubai cash premiums have averaged $1.26 a barrel in July, down from $2.39 in June, Reuters data showed. Spot Oman premiums averaged 91 cents a barrel, also lower than the previous month.
Oil market participants are also watching Iran-Oman talks this week for signs of progress towards a peace deal that could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flow.
Benchmark Brent crude futures have returned to levels last seen when the U.S. and Iran reached an interim peace agreement on June 17. Term crude supplies to Asia are priced as a differential to the Oman/Dubai average:
SEPTEMBER AUGUST CHANGE SUPER LIGHT -0.35 0.15 -0.50 EXTRA LIGHT -1.50 -1.00 -0.50 LIGHT -2.00 -1.50 -0.50 MEDIUM -2.00 -3.25 1.25 HEAVY -3.35 -4.60 1.25
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Ashitha Shivaprasad; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alexander Smith)