State-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, has
raised official selling prices for its high quality light crudes for April term
supply, through
Egypt
's
Sidi Kerir oil terminal in the
Mediterranean
, by more than a dollar a barrel, traders who have seen the official
notice said Tuesday.
The increase in prices is thought to represent Aramco's expectation of a
pick-up in demand for light crudes in the
Mediterranean
as a result of severe disruption to Libyan oil supplies due to
political upheaval in the country since last month, traders said. The
Mediterranean market includes refiners in
Italy
and
France
that have regularly imported Libyan oil in the past.
In contrast Aramco cut its prices for medium and heavy crudes being exported
from the Sidi Kerir oil terminal, traders said.
On Saturday Aramco raised its April official selling prices for all its crudes
to
Northwest Europe
while raising its light crude values for term delivery into the
Mediterranean
.
Aramco officials have publicly said
Saudi Arabia
would meet incremental demand arising from disruption to Libyan oil supplies,
which is by and large made up of high quality sweet crude.
Before political unrest swept through the country,
Libya
produced around 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, 1.3 million barrels of which
were exported, according to the International Energy Agency.
The agency estimates that between 850,000 and 1 million barrels a day of Libyan
crude output is now offline.
Saudi Aramco's crude oil official selling prices, in U.S. dollars a barrel, are
as follows:
To
Europe
from Sidi Kerir, as a differential to BWave:
Crude Apr Mar Change
Extra Light -1.10 -2.75 +1.65
Light -3.25 -4.35 +1.10
Medium -7.20 -6.90 -0.30
Heavy
-9.55 -9.30 -0.25