Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, has cut the price of its June flagship crude to Asian buyers for the first time in four months, following a plunge in refining margins.

The official selling price (OSP) for June-loading Arab Light to Asia was reduced by 25 cents a barrel from May to $2.55 a barrel over Oman/Dubai quotes, people familiar with the matter said.

The cut is less than the market expectation of 40 cents, suggesting that the country is striving to shore up oil prices after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) surprisingly announced an additional output cut from May to the rest of 2023.

Asian refineries are suffering from sluggish processing margins due to high oil prices and oversupply of refined products. A smaller cut of OSP may prompt some refiners to cut procurements or even lower operations this month.

Saudi Arabia also cut the June OSPs of other grades to Asia, with bigger trims than Arab Light. It lowered the prices for Arab Medium by 80 cents and Arab Heavy by 90 cents from the previous month.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Jan Harvey and Mark Porter)