Saudi influence in oil
Oil prices entered the week positively due to the impact of Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco increasing prices for Asian customers.
Oil rose after a weekly decline as Saudi Arabia increased the prices of products exported to Asia for the third month.
Brent oil started the new week by testing above $83. Brent oil fell more than 7 percent last week, recording the biggest loss since February.
Saudi Aramco increased the official sales price of its major product, Arab Light, for June by 90 cents to $2.90 per barrel, above benchmark prices.
Oil fell last week as conflict risks in the Middle East eased, capping the commodity’s year-to-date gains.
OPEC and its allies are expected to continue supply cuts in the second half of their meeting next month. Ahead of this, Iraq and Kazakhstan announced plans for how they would reduce flows to bring production in line with already agreed quotas.
“Price action has been more supportive in early trading due to the increase in Saudi products,” said Warren Patterson, Commodity Strategy Manager at ING Groep NV.
Geopolitical developments are also monitored in the oil market
Developments in the Middle East are also followed in the oil market.
The Israeli army began evacuating civilians from Rafah. This follows a possible prelude to a long-awaited attack on Gaza City and the collapse of talks with Hamas over the weekend on a possible ceasefire.