Saudi Aramco Cuts September Asia Oil Price by 50 Cents as Brent Slides 20%

3 articles · Updated · OilPrice.com · Aug 6

$0.50-per-barrel cut will lower Saudi Aramco’s September Arab Light official selling price for Asia to a $2 discount versus the regional benchmark.
Brent has fallen to about $80 a barrel—down roughly 20% in two weeks—as traders bet an Iran-Oman deal could reopen more tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi exports remain constrained despite that optimism, with Aramco keeping shipments near 5 million barrels per day, or about 70% of normal volumes, while Ras Tanura runs below usual levels.
Yanbu on the Red Sea has helped keep crude moving, but Houthi threats near Bab el-Mandeb have made that route less attractive and pushed Aramco toward Egypt’s SUMED pipeline and Mediterranean loadings.
Asian refiners had already sought discounts to offset longer voyages and higher freight costs, while Aramco also cut prices for all grades bound for the United States, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean.