Although the world is not less concerned about the Omicron mutation, Saudi Arabia still creates confidence in the energy market when it increases the official price of oil for Asia to a nearly two-year peak.
Saudi Arabia raises oil prices
According to Bloomberg, in January next year, Saudi Arabia will increase the price of oil sold to customers in Asia by 0.6 USD / barrel compared to the price in December. This is the highest price announced by Saudi Arabia since from the beginning of 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world.
At the same time, the “leader” of OPEC will also raise the selling price to customers in the US in the range of 0.4 – 0.6 USD/barrel, depending on the type of crude oil. Meanwhile, oil prices to Europe, which is a small market for Saudi Arabia, will be lowered in January 2022.
Saudi Aramco’s oil processing facility in Abqaiq city. (Photo: AP).
Good news for oil exporting countries
Reuters quoting traders said, Saudi Arabia’s move to increase the price of oil is not really a surprise. This proves that OPEC believes that crude oil demand is still very strong and Saudi Arabia is not too concerned about the Omicron mutation.
When the World Health Organization (WHO) first released information about Omicron in late November, the world energy market saw a serious plunge. Brent oil price lost more than 10 USD, fell below 70 USD/barrel.
However, contrary to initial concerns, experts have recently updated the data on the new strain with cautious optimism because there have been no deaths related to Omicron, nor the hospitalization rate. increased as in previous strains.
In fact, at the end of November, CEO Amin Nasser of Saudi Aramco – the world’s largest oil company in 2021 by capitalization, said he was “very optimistic” about oil demand.
At the same time, in the interview with Bloomberg, the CEO said that he found the market overreacting to the news of the Omicron mutation.
“We are very optimistic about the world’s oil demand. The market response is very good, especially in Asia,” Mr. Nasser told reporters in the city of Dhahran, the center of the industry. Saudi Arabian energy industry.
The CEO of Saudi Aramco also reiterated the forecast of some energy authorities, that oil demand will recover to more than 100 million bpd in 2022, equivalent to consumption before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, at the end of the last policy meeting, Saudi Arabia and its partners in OPEC + agreed to increase production by 400,000 bpd in January next year. The OPEC+ decision further proves that the alliance expects crude oil demand to continue to recover in 2022.
T&G International Joint Stock Company
Address: 352 Hue Street, Le Dai Hanh Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi
Hotline: 0345786803
Email: hrm@tginterjsc.com
Website: http://tginternationaljsc.com
