TOKYO / Reuters Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, has notified at least two Asian refiners of its first cuts in crude allocations for regional buyers since an OPEC output reduction took effect in January, two refining sources told Reuters on Wednesday. State-owned Saudi Aramco has told Asian buyers it is curtailing supplies for June to meet its …

  LONDON / Reuters Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday urged oil pricing agency S&P Global Platts to protect the dated Brent crude benchmark from declining North Sea supply by including other grades, such as Russian Urals, in its price-setting process. The suggestion marks a shift from two years ago when Shell said adding Urals would not be “worth the trouble”. …

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Electricity Co (SEC) swung to a first-quarter profit on Wednesday after a royal decree exempted the Gulf’s largest utility firm from municipality fees. The company, which the government is aiming to restructure to improve efficiency, made a profit of 4.94 billion riyals in the three months to March 31, a bourse statement said. This compares …