Saudi Arabia to supply full July crude volumes to some Asian buyers

Saudi Arabia has informed five Asian refiners that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude oil in July, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The Kingdom has also reinstated contracted volumes of Arab Heavy crude to one buyer after cutting supplies in the previous month, while three other refiners in Asia said they have not received their July allocation.

Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant, maintained full contractual supplies to Asia for June supplies by replacing Arab Heavy with Arab Light.

The Arab Heavy was redirected to domestic power plants to meet summer demand.

Arab Heavy supply cut combined with a drop in Venezuelan crude exports and robust demand in Asia, pushed up medium and heavy sour crude prices in Asia last month although light grades were lower because of ample supplies.

Aramco raised the official selling prices for all crude grades for its Asian customers in July, with flagship Arab Light rising to the highest in four years.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has told OPEC that it raised oil output to a little more than 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in May, but still within its agreed target.