Saudi Arabia reduced the official selling price of its flagship crude by $0.50 per barrel for Asian buyers in January.
This is the first price reduction in seven months, although it is a smaller reduction than analysts had expected.
The move was in response to intensified international competition after OPEC production cuts pushed Middle Eastern oil prices higher.
Saudi Arabia said it would extend its voluntary production cuts of 1 million barrels daily of crude until the end of the year.
Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco has told at least five refiners in North Asia that it would supply the full crude oil volumes by contract next month, Reuters reported on Monday, quoting sources familiar with the plans.
Several buyers in Asia are looking to buy spot oil cargoes from Russia, Africa, Brazil, or the United States after the world’s top crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, unexpectedly raised its official selling prices for its crude going to Asia in July.
Southeast Asia will be a hotbed for upstream mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the next two years, with more than $5 billion of assets up for grabs, Rystad Energy research shows. The bulk of these opportunities are in Indonesia, where upwards of $2 billion of assets are on the market, followed by Malaysia and Vietnam which have approximately $1.4 billion and $1 billion for sale respectively.
Europe is on track to import this month the highest volumes of diesel from the Middle East and Asia in seven years as the EU turns to alternative supply after the ban on imports of Russian diesel and other fuels took effect on February 5.