Saudi Arabia Raises Key Oil Price to Asia to Highest Since 2014
- Official selling price for benchmark grade is at $1.90 premium
- Highest since August 2014; Unipec’s May volumes were cut 40%
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Saudi Arabia set the price of its benchmark crude in Asia at the highest level since August 2014, just a few weeks after the trading unit of China’s biggest refiner asked for fewer barrels because of high prices.
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the state producer better known as Saudi Aramco, will sell its Arab Light crude at a premium of $1.90 a barrel to a regional benchmark in June, according to a price list emailed Wednesday. Differentials for all grades to Asia were increased month-on-month. Unipec, the trading of unit China’s top refiner Sinopec, had proposed taking 40 percent less crude from the Middle East country for May in response to an unexpected price increase, according to a senior official at the Chinese company.