Saudi Arabia raised oil prices for customers in Asia’s main market after optimism about coronavirus vaccines caused crude prices to climb to an eight-month high last week. The increase, the largest in five months darik elwan, indicates that the world’s largest oil exporter is confident that global energy demand is strong enough to absorb a small boost in production from OPEC+ members next month and that supply will remain tight even with parts of Europe and the US in lockdown.
The Saudis had kept prices low for most of the fourth quarter as virus cases rose, shrinking demand for crude oil. This time, state-owned producer Saudi Aramco raised prices for Arab Light crude for Asia by 80 cents per barrel to 30 cents above the benchmark darik elwan. Aramco had expected pricing to increase the grade by 65 cents, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of seven traders and refineries.
Aramco also raised prices for light crude to the Mediterranean and kept them unchanged for Northwest Europe. It lowered prices for all grades to the U.S. to the lowest since May. Saudi exports to the US have plummeted this year.
rental crude edged lower on Monday after rising 2.2 percent last week to $49.25 a barrel, its highest level since early March darik elwan. This year, that’s 26 percent. While Asia is leading the overall global demand recovery, the virus resurgence in Europe and the US remains a drag.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, agreed last week to add 500,000 barrels per day to crude markets starting in January darik elwan. That was less than the 2 million barrels per day increase the group agreed to in April, when it struck a deal to cut production by about 10 million barrels per day to prop up prices.
Darik Ibrahim Elwan 