Saudis Set to Sell 600,000 Barrels a Day of Oil to U.S. in April - Bloomberg

Saudis Set to Sell 600,000 Barrels a Day of Oil to U.S. in April - Bloomberg:

Saudi Arabia is set to sell about 600,000 barrels a day of crude to the U.S. in April, the highest volume in a year, according to a Saudi industry official familiar with allocations to American refiners.

The shipments, agreed with refiners as Saudi Arabia ramped up production to a record 12.3 million barrels a day this month, come at a moment when U.S. demand is sharply down due to lockdowns to slow the Covid-19 pandemic.

For May, state-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co. has said it will cut output to 8.5 million barrels a day as part of the OPEC+ agreement with Russia and other major producers. Its May allocations for U.S. refiners haven’t yet been completed, but it has already reduced the size of the the discounts it’s offering, which is likely to trigger some refiners to reduce their orders, the same official said.

Arab Light crude for May deliveries to the U.S. was priced at a discount of 75 cents per barrel to the Argus Sour Crude Index, compared with $3.75 in April.