Saudi Aramco to supply extra crude to hungry Asian buyers

Bloomberg

Saudi Arabia is set to supply more crude to oil-starved Asian refiners, and extract a heavy price for it.
State-run producer Saudi Aramco will sell additional cargoes to customers in the world’s biggest oil-consuming region for June loading, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The shipments will be on top of those scheduled under long-term crude contracts, they said, asking not to be identified because the information is confidential.
While the extra supplies will alleviate a squeeze driven by US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela as well as unexpected disruptions from Russia to Nigeria, the refiners face a costly bill. The higher costs aren’t expected to deter Asian buyers, who had earlier this month asked Opec’s biggest producer for additional supplies even before the kingdom set its pricing for June cargoes.
Global benchmark Brent crude fell as much as 1.1 percent a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange and traded down 67 cents at $70.57 at 11:10 am in London. The prices slipped 1.8 percent last week, after gaining in the
previous five weeks.