Saudi Aramco will reduce July crude supplies to at least five Asian buyers

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, has reduced the amount of
July crude it supplies to at least five buyers in Asia, Reuters reported.

People familiar with the matter said that the reduction in crude oil supply is mainly aimed at medium and heavy grade products
.

Refinery cuts were smaller in April than in June
.
Reuters declined to name sources because of the sensitivity of the incident
.

Earlier, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, reached an agreement to cut production by 9.
7 million barrels
per day until the end of July.

Saudi Arabia said it would end its deeper voluntary cuts
as global demand showed signs of picking up.

Tighter supplies in the Middle East and increased demand for crude from refineries prompted Saudi Aramco to raise Asia's official selling price (OSP) in July more than expected, although refining profits and oil demand have yet to catch up with the trend
of higher crude prices, the sources said.

R Ramachandran, BPCL's head of refinery, said: "We were surprised by the increase in OSPs, especially in a market with weak refining margins, which is not attractive
to refiners.
”

This led to at least one major Asian buyer demanding a reduction in its July contract count by nearly a third, a
source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Two other sources said they would increase purchases of cross-regional arbitrage goods, such as West African crude and U.
S.
crude, which are more competitively priced and reduce purchases of expensive Middle Eastern oil this month
.