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Saudi Arabia Cuts Asian Oil Prices to Five-Year Low
Dec 05, 2025Saudi Arabia has lowered the official selling price of its Arab Light crude to Asian buyers for January, marking the lowest premium in five years. The new price is 60 cents per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark, down from $1 in December.
The price reduction reflects growing signs of a surplus in the global oil market. OPEC and its partners, led by Russia, have increased output, though eight members have paused further hikes for the first quarter of 2026 after raising production targets by about 2.9 million barrels per day since April 2025.
Additional supply from the United States and Brazil has also raised concerns of a potential glut. In November, OPEC revised its forecast for next year, now projecting a small surplus of about 20,000 barrels per day, compared with an earlier expectation of a large deficit, and trimmed its 2026 demand estimate for OPEC+ crude by 100,000 barrels per day.
The move follows a steady decline in the cash Dubai market, where the premium over swaps has dropped to an average of 70 cents in December, down from 90 cents in November. Saudi Arabia’s pricing typically influences rates set by Iran, Kuwait, and Iraq, shaping the cost of around nine million barrels per day of oil exported to Asia.
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