Saudi Arabia has raised its crude oil prices for Asian buyers by $ 0.40 per barrel and cut prices for European and American buyers by $ 0.20 and $ 0.10 per barrel, respectively, Reuters reported. .
This means that the price for May delivery for Arab Light – the flagship grade of Saudi Arabia – will cost Asian buyers $ 1.80 above the Oman / Dubai average, which is used as a basis for pricing. The Oman benchmark was currently trading at more than $ 63 a barrel, and the Dubai contract was more than $ 64 a barrel.
The news is probably not welcome for the two biggest buyers of Saudi crude oil, China and India, especially not by India, which has spoken out in its opposition to OPEC’s price increase efforts.
The world’s third largest consumer of oil has repeatedly called on the cartel to halt production and bring prices down. Meanwhile, it began looking for alternatives to Middle Eastern oil.
‘We have asked companies to aggressively seek diversification. We can not be held hostage to the arbitrary decision of Middle Eastern producers. “When they wanted to stabilize the market, we stood by them,” a government source told Reuters in early March.
India imports as much as 80 percent of the crude oil it consumes. Of these, about 60 percent come from Middle Eastern producers. According to unnamed sources quoted by Reuters, India could turn into the more American raw and unprocessed varieties of the world’s newest producer – Guyana.
Meanwhile, the government has asked refineries to review their contracts with Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern producers and use their collective bargaining power to get better terms, The Hindu reported over the weekend.
Meanwhile, despite US sanctions, China is devouring cheap Iranian oil and may not have to keep buying at the rate it did last year, when the ground was rough, wherever it was.
By Irina Slave for Oilprice.com
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