Riyadh – Mubasher: Saudi Arabia decided to reduce its crude oil supplies to largest buyers in Asia in November, Reuters on Wednesday reported, citing informed sources as saying.
Saudi Aramco decreased its supplies to at least three Japanese purchasers and one buyer in South Korea by 10%, the agency added.
Some buyers in China will get less amount of the Saudi crude oil, trade sources said.
On Monday, a spokesman for the Saudi Oil Ministry stated that Saudi Arabia trimmed crude oil supplies for November by 560,000 barrels per day (bpd) from customers’ requests for its crude.
Saudi Arabia reduced its oil exports to Japan for the a second month, whereas Japan’s imports of the Kingdom’s crude oil surged 15% in the first nine months of 2017, compared to the year-ago period, Thomson Reuters’ data revealed.
Saudi oil exports to china levelled up 1% in the first nine months of 2017 to reach 39.1 million tonnes, compared to the corresponding period in the year earlier.
“Several customers in Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and at least one buyer in Japan will receive full contractual volumes, the sources said, as Saudi Arabia looks to hold on to market share in the world’s fastest-growing oil demand region,”.
“While it has cut allocations, Saudi Arabia’s exports are set to rebound to 7.15 million bpd in November from low levels during the summer peak demand season,” the Saudi oil ministry spokesman said.
The Kingdom looks to commit to an agreement of oil supply cut led by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
