DUBAI: Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest crude oil exporter, has cut its January 2025 prices for Asian buyers to the lowest level since early 2021, it said on Sunday, as weak demand from top importer China weighs on the market.
Aramco cut the official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude by 80 cents to 90 cents per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average, the producer said in its price list for buyers.
Lower prices will make Saudi Arabian crude more competitive with rival Russian and US oil in Asia.
The Arab Light OSP is the lowest since January 2021 when global demand was hit by the coronavirus pandemic, but is still considerably above prices seen at the peak of the Saudi-Russia market share war in 2020, when the grade sold at a discount of as much as $5.90 a barrel, Reuters data showed.
Aramco’s prices follow OPEC+’s decision on Thursday to extend production curbs into the first quarter of 2025, with the Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman saying it would not make sense to bring additional barrels back into the market at a time when stocks usually build.
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