SINGAPORE, April 6 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has lowered its crude oil prices for Asian buyers in May to the lowest level in four months. The move follows a surprise decision by the OPEC+ group last Thursday to increase oil supply.
State-owned oil company Saudi Aramco reduced the official selling price (OSP) for its flagship Arab Light crude by $2.30 per barrel. The new price is now set at $1.20 a barrel above the average prices of Oman and Dubai crude, according to a pricing document seen by Reuters.
Aramco also lowered prices for all other crude grades it exports to Asia in April by the same amount — $2.30 per barrel.
This marks the second straight month Aramco has cut prices. On Thursday, eight OPEC+ members unexpectedly agreed to speed up their plan to phase out production cuts. They will raise oil output by 411,000 barrels per day starting in May. The announcement caused global oil prices to fall further after already seeing sharp losses.
Before this decision, analysts had expected the price of Arab Light crude for Asia to drop by between $1.80 and $2.00 per barrel, based on a Reuters poll. This prediction followed a steep fall in benchmark prices in March.
The spot premium for Dubai crude averaged $1.38 per barrel in March. This was down sharply from $3.33 in February, as more Russian oil began flowing into the Asian market.
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