Saudi Arabia to Maintain Oil Shipments Cuts to Asia

By Yee Kai Pin and Yuji Okada

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s largest oil producer, will maintain cuts in its supplies of crude to refiners in Asia for November, said three officials who received notices.

The company, also known as Saudi Aramco, will keep reductions in supply at about 10 percent to 15 percent below contracted volumes, according to refinery officials in Japan, South Korea and Singapore, who asked not to be identified because of confidentiality agreements. That’s a third month of reductions at those levels. At least one Japanese refiner has yet to receive notice.

Saudi Aramco has reduced shipments to customers as part of announced cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Saudi Arabia has a production quota of 8.051 million barrels a day. In September, the kingdom pumped 8.015 million barrels a day, according to a Bloomberg News survey.

Saudi Aramco on Oct. 6 cut its official selling prices for all grades of crude oil sold to Asia in November. The biggest decrease was for Arabian Super Light, which fell 70 cents a barrel from October to 40 cents over the average of Persian Gulf benchmarks Oman and Dubai.

The price and supply cuts coincide with reduced demand in Asia. Refiners in Japan and South Korea usually raise output before the winter to produce more kerosene for heating. Nippon Oil Corp., Japan’s largest refiner, said Sept. 30 it plans to produce 10 percent less fuel in October. Cosmo Oil Co. also said it will cut throughput because of weak domestic demand.

To contact the reporters on this story: Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net