Saudi Arabia unexpectedly lowered the price of Asian crude oil in November while raising prices in Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean

On October 5, as the largest crude oil exporter in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia set the official selling price (OSP) of Arab light crude oil sold to Asia in November at a discount of US$5/barrel to the Oman/Dubai average price, down US$3 from the previous month. Data shows that this is the largest discount since June 2020. This adjustment exceeded market expectations. According to the survey, the market originally expected Saudi Arabia to raise its OSP by US$3/barrel in November to reflect the rise in benchmark oil prices in the Middle East. Saudi Aramco also significantly lowered the November OSP of Arab intermediate crude oil and Arab heavy crude oil sold to Asia, both by US$5/barrel. On the other hand, Saudi Aramco raised the OSP of all grades of crude oil sold to Northwest Europe in November by US$3/barrel after resuming crude oil exports through the Red Sea Port of Yanbu. For American buyers, Saudi Aramco kept its OSP unchanged in November. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members decided on Sunday to keep their November crude oil production targets unchanged. The decision is in line with market expectations that further adjustments to production policies are unlikely until next year. (Jin Shi)