RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is offering some of its crudes at steep discounts amid rising competition from Russia with Moscow flushing cheap oil into the market, Bloomberg reported.
This has forced Riyadh to set the pricing of its Arab Heavy and Arab Medium grades at the largest discount related to Arab Light since 2014 for August-loading cargoes to Asia, data compiled by Bloomberg revealed.
The report further noted that China and India are the biggest buyers of this discounted oil. These countries, however, have also increased purchases of Russian oil post the Ukrainian invasion.
As Russia offered the fuel at discounted prices, pressure has mounted on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries producers.
Iran and Venezuela were among other countries that also slashed the price of oil.
Arab Heavy and Arab Medium are considered less profitable fuel oil, which is used in shipping and power stations.
Even though Saudi Arabia has offered huge discounts to buyers in the US and Europe, most buyers of the heavier grades are in Asia as their refineries are much equipped to process dense varieties.
