SINGAPORE: Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to decline in February from the prior month, trade sources said on Thursday, after the kingdom hiked its official selling prices to Asia for the first time in three months.
State oil firm Saudi Aramco will ship about 43.5 million barrels in February to China, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, down from January’s 46 million barrels, a three-month high.
China’s state majors CNOOC and PetroChina and private refiner Hengli Petrochemical will be lifting less crude in February, while Saudi Aramco will increase its supply to Sinopec and Sinochem, they said.
Earlier this week, Aramco raised the official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude by 60 cents to $1.50 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average.
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in August hit one-year low
The increase in Arab Light prices for Asia came slightly higher than market forecast.
Saudi Arabia is the No. 2 crude supplier to China after Russia.
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