Saudi Arabia stood by its pledge to curtail oil output under the OPEC+ deal, reducing shipments to the prized Asian market, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
"Saudi Aramco cut contractual volumes for June loading to at least 12 Asian customers," according to traders notified by the state-owned company.
Eight of the 12 refiners that had their term supplies cut said the reductions were substantial, with curtailments of 20-30% or more. Most of the larger cuts were among buyers in China and India, and some of them said were in talks with Aramco to try and get more crude.
Aramco’s allocation announcement came later than usual this month following a delay in releasing its official selling prices. The price increase to Asian buyers earlier this month took many of them by surprise.
Aramco will decrease shipments to some buyers in the U.S. and Europe by as much as 60% or 70%, according to a person familiar with the situation.
