Saudi Aramco cut its November Arab Light price for Asia to $5 below Oman/Dubai, the widest discount since 2020

Saudi Aramco set its November 2026 official selling price for Arab Light crude to Asia at $5.00 a barrel below the Oman/Dubai average, a cut of $3 from October and the widest discount since June 2020. The price list crossed at 5:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 4, shortly before oil futures reopened for the week, and it went the opposite way from a Reuters survey that had expected a $3 increase. Aramco also cut Arab Medium and Arab Heavy for Asian buyers by $5 each, while raising November prices for northwest Europe by $3 across all grades.

What Aramco changed for November loadings

An official selling price is the differential Aramco adds to or subtracts from a regional benchmark when it bills term customers for a month's cargoes, so a $5 discount means Asian refiners pay $5 a barrel less than the Oman/Dubai average for every November barrel of Arab Light they lift. Arab Light normally sells to Asia at a premium. October's price was already $2 below Oman/Dubai, unchanged from September and at the time the lowest since the pandemic, and November takes it $3 lower again.

Why Aramco cut Asian prices while raising Europe's

Reuters reported that Aramco wanted to offer discounts that compensate buyers for record freight rates and to protect its market share after the regional conflict hit Gulf exports, which have been recovering toward prewar levels as more crude moves through the Strait of Hormuz despite attacks on ships in and around it. The cut for Asia and the rise for northwest Europe moved the two regions' differentials $6 apart in a single month.

Traders and refiners had expected Aramco to lift its Asian differentials after two months at a $2 discount, so the $3 cut leaves Arab Light $6 a barrel below the premium of about $1 over Oman/Dubai that the Reuters survey pointed to. Bloomberg described the new Asian price as the lowest in six years.

How oil traded after the price list

At 05:05 UTC on Monday, October 5, Brent futures were at $101.68, down 0.56% from Friday's close, and WTI futures at $90.29, down 0.90%. Those session figures include everything that happened over the weekend. The price list crossed while the market was closed, so it has no separate one-minute reaction to measure.