* Aramco targets large European refiners of Russian oil
* Offers maximum volumes at steep discounts
* Oil majors, refiners in Europe, Asia, U.S. grab cheap oil
* Tankers rates soar as Saudi charters large ships
* UAE changes pricing, joining race for market share
(Updates with Saudi tanker bookings, UAE prices)
By Olga Yagova
MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is flooding
markets with oil at prices as low as $25 per barrel,
specifically targeting big refiners of Russian oil in Europe and
Asia, in an escalation of its fight with Moscow for market
share, five trading sources said on Friday.
The sources, from oil majors and refiners which process
crude in Europe, said Saudi state oil company Aramco
told them it would supply all requested additional volumes in
April.
Sources previously told Reuters Saudi Arabia is also seeking
to replace Russian oil with Chinese and Indian buyers, although
not all refiners received volumes they had asked for.
Tanker rates soared as Saudi Arabia provisionally chartered
around 31 supertankers to take extra oil, including to the
United States, where Russian oil is usually less in demand.
Oil prices have halved since the start of the year because
demand has been hit by the coronavirus outbreak and after Russia
and OPEC failed to reach a new deal on supply cuts.
Moscow refused to support new deeper cuts, saying the impact
from the virus could be much worse than thought, and Riyadh
retaliated by opening its taps and pledging to pump record
volumes on to the market.
Russia has so far said it is not planning to come back to
the negotiating table despite feeling the pressure from the
extraordinary Saudi moves.
Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday Russia saw no
grounds so far for returning to discussions with its OPEC+
partners and can increase its oil production by a modest 200,000
barrels per day in April.
By contrast, Saudi Arabia has pledged to raise output by 2.6
million bpd in April, including from stocks. Fellow Gulf
producers like the United Arab Emirates has had to join in the
battle for market share and has also announced production
increases.
Saudi Arabia has made a deep cut to its official selling
prices for oil. Arab Light and Arab Medium barrels were offered
at selling price of $25-28 per barrel on CIF Rotterdam basis,
traders said.
On Friday, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) also
offered steep discounts for its Murban crude for April,
announcing forward prices for the first time in its history. It
previously set prices retroactively.
Russia's main blend Urals has been offered slightly higher
than $30 per barrel on CIF Rotterdam basis, according to
Refinitiv Eikon data. <URL-NWE-E>
"We are happy with our allocation. The requests for April
were confirmed. I look forward to May if prices remain that
attractive", a trader with a European oil company involved in
the talks told Reuters.
European oil refiners including Total, BP,
Eni and SOCAR have all had allocations for additional
Saudi crude oil supplies in April confirmed, the sources said.
Saudi Aramco declined to comment. Total, BP, Eni and SOCAR
did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
On Thursday, sources told Reuters Saudi Arabia started
focusing on boosting supplies to traditional buyers of Urals as
it is trying to replace Russian oil in refiners' feedstock
around the world, from Europe to India.
Brent crude prices were on track for their biggest weekly
fall since the 2008 financial crisis on Friday as investors
fretted over the impact of the virus on demand and the
Russian-Saudi price war.
(Reporting by Olga Yagova; Additional reporting by Jonathan
Saul, Rania El Gamal in Dubai and Devika Krishna Kumar in New
York; Editing by Dmitry Zhdannikov/Jan Harvey/David Evans/Jane
Merriman)
