Saudi Arabia unexpectedly cuts November oil prices to Asia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has unexpectedly cut its oil prices for sale to Asia in ‌November to six-year lows while raising them for northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, a pricing document showed on Monday.

The largest Middle Eastern crude exporter set the November Arab Light crude oil official selling price to Asia at $5 a barrel below the average of Oman and ​Dubai prices, down $3 from the previous month. The discount for November is the widest since June 2020.

This was against expectations of a hike of up to $5 a barrel for the November OSP in a Reuters ⁠survey, in line with gains seen in the Middle Eastern benchmarks.

State oil company Saudi Aramco cut the November OSPs ​of heavier grades, Arab Medium and Arab Heavy, sold to Asia by $5 a barrel.

Aramco has been looking at offering discounts for oil loaded off Oman ​to compensate buyers for record freight rates, people familiar with the matter said last week, as it sought to protect its market share after disruptions from the US-Israeli war against Iran affected exports.

The OSP cuts appeared to be aimed at compensating buyers for the elevated freight ​costs, said three Asian refining sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The cost of booking a very large ​crude carrier capable of hauling 2 million barrels of oil from the Gulf to China on a time charter basis was $1.2 ‌million a ⁠day on Friday, according to LSEG data. It was about $80,000 a day a year ago.

One of the sources also said the lower OSPs could offset the waiting time and longer voyage for Saudi oil exported from the Egyptian port of Sidi Kerir, where cargo loadings have been delayed.

Since September, Saudi Aramco has sold millions of barrels ​of crude through ship-to-ship transfers ​outside the Strait of ⁠Hormuz, pushing oil flows through the strategic waterway to pre-conflict levels.

The kingdom also resumed loading at the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea after a brief suspension as ​a drone attack shut its key East-West oil pipeline.

Separately, Saudi Aramco raised the ​November OSPs for ⁠northwest Europe by $3 a barrel across all grades. Aramco kept prices unchanged for buyers in the United States.