Saudi Aramco lifts September OSPs for Asia, Arab Light at +$3.50/b
Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Saudi Aramco has increased most premiums on Official Selling Prices (OSPs) for September-loading crude to Asia after extending output cuts for another month.
For Aramco's key customer base in Asia, differentials for the flagship Arab Light grade were raised to Platts Dubai/DME Oman +$3.50/b for loading next month versus +$3.20/b on August cargoes.
Saudi Arabia announced Friday it would extend its voluntary crude oil production cut of 1 million bpd into next month, while Russia said it was reducing exports by 300,000 bpd for September.
Arab Medium was raised to +$3.35/b from +$2.65/b, while Arab Heavy was set at +$1.60/b versus +$1/b for August cargoes, underpinned again by firm fuel oil cracks.
Arab Extra Light was unchanged at $2.55/b over Dubai/Oman.
The key M1/M3 Dubai cash spread, closely monitored by Saudi Aramco and other Middle East National Oil Companies (NOCs), averaged $1.53/b in July compared to $1.10/b in June.
Premiums for physical barrels also continued to recover from the two-year lows registered in June as flagship medium-sour grades loading in August, including Oman, Upper Zakum and Al Shaheen, consolidated at Dubai swaps +$1.70-$1.90/b in the latter part of July.
The Quantum average price for Dubai was $80.45/b for September-loading barrels versus $74.97/b on August-loading crude, a gain of 7.3%, underpinned by the production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia, firm demand projections and a slight improvement in the economic outlook.
For Northwest Europe, Arab Light was set at +$5.80/b versus ICE Brent futures, compared to +$3.80/b on August-loading crude, while Medium was set at +$4.60/b versus +$3.30/b for August.
The Brent/Dubai cash spread averaged to an average -$0.79/b last month, compared to -$0.01/b in June, having reached a record -$1.55/b in the final week of the month.
Arab Light for August to the US Gulf was unchanged at +$7.25/b over ASCI (Argus Sour Crude Index), while Medium was at +$7.95/b and Heavy at +$7.50/b, also both flat on the month.
