Saudi Arabia cuts oil prices for Asia amid weak demand: Report

Saudi Arabia is cutting oil prices for Asian buyers by a margin more than expected due to a weak market outlook and also after OPEC delayed an output revival

Saudi Arabia is cutting oil prices for Asian buyers by a margin more than expected due to a weak market outlook, according to a Bloomberg report.

An Aramco employee walks near an oil tank at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

This also comes after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) further delayed an output revival.

Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil producer, also cut prices for north-west Europe and the Mediterranean, though it made no price changes for North America.

Aramco will be selling its main product, the Arab Light crude grade at a premium of 90 cents a barrel to the regional benchmark in January, according to the report, which compared it with $1.70 for this month.

This comes at a time when benchmark oil prices in London are already lower this year due to sluggish demand growth, especially in China, which leaves the global market a surplus for next year.

Brent Crude is currently at around $71 a barrel amid the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon having been held so far.

Because of all this, OPEC which is led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to push back production increases planned for the start of January by another three months. This however, following two other previous delays.

All of this was because of the possibility of an impending oversupply.