Saudi Arabia raises August oil prices for Asia, Europe buyers

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Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, on Sunday hiked August prices for Asian and European buyers by more than $1 a barrel as domestic crude demand is expected to rise, reducing exports, and consumption from China is likely to increase.

State energy firm Saudi Aramco raised the official selling price for its flagship Arab light crude to Asia loading in August to $2.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, the highest in four month and $1 up from July. The price hike exceeded expectations of 50-80 cents a barrel in a Reuters survey early last week.

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The Gulf country also increased the prices for all crude grades it sells to refiners in Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean by $1.40 a barrel from the previous month.

Aramco’s price hikes came a day after eight OPEC+ members agreed to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, higher than the 411,000 bpd expected by the market, further accelerating output increases.

The prices reflect higher crude demand in Saudi Arabia to meet peak summer power demand while buying appetite from Chinese refineries is strong as some of them lifted less volumes in previous months, two refining sources in Asia said.

Analysts are expecting Saudi to burn more crude oil this summer for power generation, limiting exports.

The OSPs for Asian supplies were expected to rise for August as the premium of benchmark cash Dubai to swaps averaged $1.88 a barrel in June, up 61 cents from the May average.

The tensions between Iran and Israel last month boosted Middle East crude prices on fears of supply disruptions, increasing volatility in the market.

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps jumped to a near four-month peak of $3.34 on June 19 before closing the month at $2.73.

The tables below show free-on-board prices for August in US dollars.