Today7 Jun 2022 23:45
Merely a couple of days after OPEC+ sped up the pace of production increases, Saudi Aramco hiked its July formula prices for Asian buyers to higher-than-expected levels, stoking concerns that supply might be lower than expected.
- The July ’22 OSP for Saudi Arabia’s largest crude stream Arab Light was hiked by $2.1 per barrel from June, almost a dollar above the month-on-month changes in the Dubai cash-to-futures spread.
- With Chinese buying widely expected to come back after recording some of the country’s worst post-pandemic figures in April-May, Aramco can afford to hike its prices, especially with Russia expected to drop production.
- Also increasing prices into Europe, keeping only US pricing unchanged, Saudi Arabia might be indicating that it will not be able to produce as much crude as the OPEC+ deal stipulates, sending Brent prices above $120 per barrel again.