Saudi Aramco slashes January oil prices for Asian buyers

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has reduced its January 2025 pricing for Arab Light crude oil for Asian buyers, according to the latest price list released by the state-owned oil giant. The official selling price for Arab Light crude was cut by 80 cents, bringing it to $0.90 per barrel above the regional benchmark.

Similarly, the OSPs for Arab Extra Light and Super Light grades were also reduced by 60 cents per barrel and 70 cents per barrel, respectively for January, while the OSPs for Arab Medium and Heavy grades saw cuts of 70 cents per barrel.

For North America, Aramco set the January OSP for its flagship Arab Light crude at $3.80 per barrel above the Argus Sour Crude Index, according to an official statement.

Aramco produces five grades of crude oil: Super Light, Arab Light, Arab Extra Light, Arab Medium, and Arab Heavy.

These grades are distinguished by their density: Super Light has a density of more than 40, Arab Extra Light ranges between 36 and 40, Arab Light between 32 and 36, Arab Medium between 29 and 32, and Arab Heavy has a density of less than 29.

The global oil market has been under pressure in recent days. For the week, Brent was on track to fall by more than 2 percent, while West Texas Intermediate was on course for a roughly 1 percent drop.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, pushed back the start of oil output rises by three months until April and extended the full unwinding of cuts by a year until the end of 2026.

Weak global oil demand, and the prospect of OPEC+ ramping up production as soon as prices rise, have weighed on prices, said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Bank of America forecasts that increasing oil surpluses will drive the price of Brent to average $65 a barrel in 2025, while expecting oil demand growth to rebound to 1 million barrels per day next year, the bank said in a note on Friday.

HSBC, meanwhile, now expects a smaller oil market surplus of 0.2 million bpd, from 0.5 million bpd previously, it said in a note.

Brent has largely stayed in a tight range of $70-$75 per barrel in the past month, as investors weighed weak demand signals in China and heightened geopolitical risk in the Middle East.