Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, on Wednesday hiked its September crude oil prices for Asian buyers, the second monthly rise in a row, on tight supply and robust demand.
Saudi Arabia raised the official selling price (OSP) for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia in September to plus $3.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, state oil company Aramco said in a statement, up $1 from the August premium.
The increase is within expectations. Refining sources in a Reuters survey had expected the price to rise by 90 cents to $1.05 a barrel from August.
The September OSPs to Asia for other crude grades – Arab Extra Light, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy – gained 70 cents to $1.20 a barrel from August, the statement showed.
Saudi Arabia’s price hike comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil, which may boost Indian demand for Saudi and other Middle East crude.
“In anticipation of higher Indian demand, they have kept the prices very strong,” said a source at an Indian refiner.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed as expected on Sunday to a 547,000 barrels per day output hike in September. Nonetheless, traders say the market is showing signs of tightness.
Aramco also raised its prices for the United States, and cut them for customers in Europe.
Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month, and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting about 9 million bpd of crude bound for Asia.
State oil giant Saudi Aramco sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers and after calculating the change in the value of its oil over the past month, based on yields and product prices.
Below are Saudi prices for September in dollars per barrel.
Saudi term crude supplies to Asia are priced as a differential to the Oman/Dubai average:
September August CHANGE
EXTRA $3.50 $2.30 +$1.20 LIGHT LIGHT $3.20 $2.20 +$1.00 MEDIUM $2.65 $1.75 +$0.90 HEAVY $1.30 $0.60 +$0.70
Prices at Ras Tanura destined for United States are set against ASCI:
September August CHANGE EXTRA $6.25 $5.95 +$0.30 LIGHT LIGHT $4.20 $3.90 +$0.30 MEDIUM $4.00 $3.70 +$0.30 HEAVY $3.35 $3.05 +$0.30
Prices at Ras Tanura destined for Northwest Europe are set against ICE Brent:
September August CHANGE EXTRA $4.95 $6.25 -$1.30 LIGHT LIGHT $3.35 $4.65 -$1.30 MEDIUM $2.55 $3.85 -$1.30 HEAVY $0.15 $1.45 -$1.30
Prices at Ras Tanura for Saudi oil destined for the Mediterranean are set against ICE Brent:
September August CHANGE EXTRA $4.85 $6.15 -$1.30 LIGHT LIGHT $3.15 $4.45 -$1.30 MEDIUM $2.55 $3.85 -$1.30 HEAVY -$0.15 $1.15 -$1.30
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth, Nidhi Verma and Robert Harvey, editing by Ed Osmond)