Aramco slashes oil price by its biggest margin in 25 years

Saudi Aramco is slashing crude prices with its biggest discount in 25 years.

The state oil giant cut the price of its flagship Arab Light crude for Asian buyers by $11 a barrel for next month, leaving it $1.50 below competing grades from the region. It’s the first time since 2020 that Saudi Arabia has sold Arab Light at a discount, and the biggest monthly reduction in its official selling prices since at least 2000, Bloomberg reports.

China, meanwhile, has sharply increased purchases of Middle Eastern crude, buying at least 26 million barrels for July and August delivery from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq, the Financial Times reports. 

The price cuts come as Gulf producers ramp up exports through the Strait of Hormuz following an interim U.S.-Iran deal, which has swollen regional supplies.

Still, an LNG tanker owned by Qatar’s state shipping company Nakilat was struck by a projectile, believed to be a drone or missile, near the Omani coast after exiting the Gulf waterway, sparking a fire that caused severe damage, Reuters reports.