RIYADH — Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has raised the official selling price (OSP) of its Arab Light crude for Asia in December by a larger-than-expected 20 cents and cut prices of Arab Medium and Arab Heavy by a smaller-than-expected margin. Saudi Aramco said prices of Arab Medium will be cut by 10 cents per barrel and Arab Heavy will be lowered by 45 cents, compared with expectations of 15 cents and 50 cents respectively. Traders had expected Arab Light prices to increase by only 10 cents. “The higher prices came in spite of collapsing gasoline and stable naphtha cracks and may increase demand for spot barrels, particularly Russian ESPO, given current spot assessments of below $3 per barrel,” JBC Energy said in a report. Dealers said Monday they will wait for official selling prices of other producers, mainly Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and Qatar, for further trading cues. The OSPs will be announced this week and trading in January cargoes will begin soon after. Premiums on December cargoes of light crudes narrowed in spot trading after OSPs differentials were worse than expected. — Reuters
