Saudi Aramco Raises Oil Prices for Asian, European Buyers
July 05 2022 - 7:56AM
Dow Jones News
By Yusuf Khan
Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the nation's state-run oil company,
raised its crude oil prices for Asia and Europe for August, as
OPEC+ struggles to increase output.
Saudi Aramco raised the price of its benchmark Arab Light crude
by $2.80 a barrel for Asian buyers to a premium of $9.30 a barrel
compared to Oman and Dubai.
Buyers in Northwest Europe saw the premium rise by $1 a barrel
to $5.30 against ICE Brent oil benchmark, while Mediterranean
buyers saw the premium rise by $1.20 a barrel to $5.10.
The price hike comes as OPEC+ and its members struggle to lift
oil output in the near term. Last week, the group agreed to raise
oil output by 648,000 barrels a day, but analysts say the alliance
is unlikely to meet its targets.
"The combination of sanctions against Russia, Europe's attempt
to wean itself off Russian energy and many [OPEC] producers pumping
at a pace close to capacity are major developments keeping the
energy sector supported," Saxo Bank's Head of Commodity Strategy,
Ole Hansen, said in a note.
"Adding the impact of years of underinvestment in both upstream
and downstream capital expenditure, there is little refining spare
capacity globally to meet the dual challenge of sanctions reducing
Russian flows and a post-Covid recovery in demand," Hansen
added.
Write to Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 05, 2022 07:41 ET (11:41 GMT)
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