Sonatrach cuts Saharan Blend by $0.25/b for May

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - Algeria's Sonatrach set the Official Selling Price of its Saharan Blend crude for May loading at a discount of minus $0.70/b to Platts Dated Brent, reported the Zawya news agency Thursday.

This compares to a discount of $0.45 to Dated Brent in April.

Earlier in the month, Saudi Aramco cut the OSP for Arab Extra Light sold to Mediterranean customers by $0.30/b to ICE Brent futures minus $1.40/b.  

Saharan Blend is classified as a light, sweet crude grade with high yields of light ends, particularly naphtha, and is also favored by refiners looking to maximize kerosene yields. Saharan is a lighter grade than Arab Extra Light, but seen as comparable.

The grade is also popular with refiners looking to meet demand for 0.5%-sulfur Marine Fuel, which has been the strongest part of the barrel since 2019 as the shipping industry adopted IMO 2020 rules mandating max 0.5% sulfur bunker fuel.

Saharan Blend has an API gravity of around 43.2 degrees and a sulfur content of 0.1%.

The Algerian grade also competes in international marketets with light grades exported from the US and West Africa.