Saudi Aramco to maintain full oil supplies to Asia

Saudi Aramco has told at least seven customers in Asia they will receive full contract volumes of crude oil in November ahead of the peak winter season, several sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

The producer is keeping supplies to Asia steady despite likely production cuts by tapping on inventories, the sources said.

Saudi Aramco could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.

The full supply allocation comes despite a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, to lower their output target by 2 million barrels per day.

Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman had said the real supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd. Analysts expect Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to shoulder much of the production cuts because other OPEC+ members are falling behind output targets.

Consultancy FGE expects the Saudi oil production target to fall by around 550,000 bpd in November from the previous month.

The world’s top exporter has also kept November crude prices for Asia largely unchanged against expectations of higher prices as it seeks to maintain market share in the region. read more