Saudi Arabia is forced to offer some varieties of its oil at a discount, Bloomberg reports.
According to the agency, the kingdom set the prices for varieties of “black gold” Arab Heavy and Arab Medium with the largest discount in relation to Arab Light since 2014. The reason for this was the need to compete with Russia for the Asian markets that import these two varieties.
China and India, the main buyers of Riyadh, in recent months they prefer Russian oil, which they purchase at a big discount. The kingdom also offered discount oil to Europe and the United States.
Saudi Arabia is not the only oil exporter forced to compete with Moscow in the Asian market. Earlier, Iran also set discounts on its raw materials, the prices for which were lower than the sanctions than for Brent oil. The import of both countries into China and India has fallen strongly over the past few months.