Saudi Aramco has told at least four refinery customers in North Asia they will receive full contract volumes of crude oil in December, several sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The producer is maintaining a steady supply to Asia despite the decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, to lower the group’s output target by 2 million barrels per day (bpd)starting this month.

“People are scratching their heads to figure out when will the output cut be materialised, as the market has not felt a tightened supply,” said one of the sources, a Singapore-based trader.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said when the cuts were announced in October that the actual supply cut would be about 1 million to 1.1 million bpd.

The sources said Saudi Arabia’s latest official selling prices (OSPs) to Asian buyers have sent a signal that it will not trim the allocation for the month.

Saudi Aramco lowered the December OSP for its flagship Arab Light crude it sells to Asia by 40 cents a barrel from the prior month amid signs of weaker demand in the region.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger)