Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, raised the price of crude oil sold to Asia and Europe for the second month in a row.
Saudi Aramco announced on the 6th (local time) that it would increase the price of Arab light sweet crude oil for Asian delivery by $0.50 per barrel compared to the previous month.
This is $2.5 per barrel higher than the average price of Oman and Dubai crude oil, which are benchmarks for crude oil from the Middle East.
European sales prices also increased. In Northern Europe, the price was raised by $0.5 per barrel and in Southern Europe by $0.3 per barrel.
Compared to the global benchmark ICE Brent for April, Northern Europe will have to pay $1 more per barrel and Southern Europe will have to pay $0.8 more per barrel.
Pricing for the US did not change.
It is the second month that Aramco has raised crude oil prices in Europe and Asia.
In February, Aramco raised the price of light sweet crude for March delivery in Asia by $0.2 from $1.8 to $2 per barrel. In Europe and the United States, it was raised by $2 and $0.3, respectively. It overturned the market forecast that it would be cut at the time and made a surprise increase in six months.
The price increase is due to the expectation that Chinese demand will increase. China has switched from its ‘Zero Corona’ policy to ‘With Corona’ and is stretching its economy again.
Amin Nasser, Aramco’s chief executive, cited “increased energy demand in China” as the reason for the price increase last week.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who is leaving office this time, presented the economic growth target for this year at around 5% in a government work report at the opening ceremony of the 1st plenary session of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) on the 5th. China’s economy grew only 3% last year, which led to a decrease in global energy demand.
OPEC+, a group of major oil-producing countries, decided in October last year to cut crude oil production by 2 million barrels per day. Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said last month that “OPEC+ will maintain the October agreement throughout the year.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.