By Giulia Petroni
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia cut the price of its crude for Asian buyers for the fourth consecutive month, signaling further caution as concerns that global supply will outstrip demand continue to weigh on global markets.
State-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco set the official selling price for March loadings of its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia--the largest destination for Middle Eastern crude--at parity with the Oman/Dubai average, down from a premium of $0.30 a barrel in February.
Saudi's monthly crude pricing is closely watched by traders as a key gauge of the kingdom's view on regional demand. Prices for other heavier grades sold to Asia were cut by $0.40 a barrel, while lighter grades saw increases of $0.20 a barrel. Aramco also lowered prices for all grades sold to U.S. customers, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean.
In early European trading on Friday, Brent crude was above $68 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $63 a barrel. The benchmarks are headed for their first weekly decline in weeks ahead of talks between the U.S. and Iran. "Escalating geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran have contributed to higher oil prices," analysts at Capital Economics said. "But we think that geopolitical fears will give way to weak fundamentals."
OPEC+ agreed at its most recent meeting to keep oil output policy unchanged for March and didn't provide guidance on production levels beyond the first quarter.
Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 06, 2026 04:03 ET (09:03 GMT)
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