Sinopec’s request for 40% cut in Saudi oil supplies ‘confirmed’: sources

China’s Sinopec said its request for a 40 percent cut in Saudi crude oil imports loading in May has been confirmed, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed official from the company’s trading arm Unipec.

Asia’s largest refiner will temporarily suspend its biggest refinery for 40-day maintenance starting May 1, and this will coincide with a period in which Sinopec will have slashed its Saudi crude oil imports by 40 percent state-run Saudi Aramco set higher-than-expected prices for its flagship Arab Light crude.

“Saudi has confirmed the volume that we nominated,” the official said.

Trading sources at two North Asian refineries said on Tuesday they also planned to slash May orders from Saudi Arabia by 10 percent.

Aramco raised the official selling prices for Arab Light for Asia next month by $0.10 a barrel compared to April prices, to a premium of $1.20 to the Oman/Dubai Middle East benchmark, Argaam reported.