The July OSP is the highest since May, when prices hit historic high due to worries of disruption in supplies from Russia amid sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
Digital Desk: International oil prices witness a
jump on Monday, with Brent rising above $120 a barrel after Saudi Arabia hiked
prices for its crude sales in July, indicating tight supply even after OPEC+
agreed to accelerate output increases over the next two months.
Brent
crude was up 0.8 percent at $120.63 per barrel, having hit an intraday high of
$121.95, extending a 1.8 percent gain from Friday.WTI crude futures in the
United States were up 0.8 percent at $119.80 a barrel after hitting a
three-month high of $120.99 earlier. It gained 1.7 per cent on Friday.
Saudi Arabia upraised the official
selling price (OSP) for its flagship Arab light crude to Asia to a $6.50
premium versus the average of the Oman and Dubai benchmarks, from a $4.40
premium in June, state oil producer Aramco 2222.SE informed.
The July OSP is the highest since May,
when prices hit historic high due to worries of disruption in supplies from
Russia amid sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
The price hike came even after the
decision last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
allies, together called OPEC+, to escalate output in July and August by 648,000
barrels per day, or 50 per cent more than earlier planned.
Oil producers are "making hay
while the sun shines", Avtar Sandu, manager of commodities at Phillip
Futures in Singapore, said that US summer driving demand and the easing of
COVID-19 lockdowns in China are expected to keep prices towering.
The OPEC+ move to bring forth output
hikes is widely seen as unlikely to meet demand as the increased allocation is
spread across all members; including Russia that is facing sanctions.
Commonwealth Bank Analyst, Vivek Dhar
feels that the increase is inconsolably
needed; it falls short of demand growth expectations, especially with the EU's
partial ban on Russian oil imports also detach in.
Separately, Italy's Eni and Spain's
Repsol could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to
make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters,
resuming oil-for-debt exchange halted two years ago when Washington emphasized up penalties on
Venezuela.
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