Traders See Saudis Hiking Oil Prices Amid Rush to Secure Cargoes

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia will probably raise the price of its main oil grade to a record for next month's shipments to Asia, according to a Bloomberg survey, as importers rush to secure supplies following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

State-controlled Saudi Aramco may increase the official selling price of Arab Light crude to Asia by $1.70 a barrel from March to $4.50 above the benchmark it uses, according to the median estimate of six refiners and traders. That would be the highest premium since Bloomberg started compiling data in 2000.

The company, which declined to comment to Bloomberg, usually announces its pricing decisions in the first week of each month. For the last several months, its moves have been roughly in line with Bloomberg's surveys.

Oil has soared in the past year with the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and, more recently, escalating tensions over Ukraine. Crude jumped above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday after Russia attacked the country.

Refiners in Asia, which imports more crude than any other region, are already asking Aramco for more shipments amid uncertainty about Russian flows following the imposition of severe sanctions on Moscow. So far, the U.S. and European nations have avoided directly penalizing Russia's energy exports, though they've said such a move is possible.

The U.S. and its allies are discussing a release of about 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency stockpiles to bring prices down.

President Joe Biden's administration, concerned about rising fuel costs for American motorists, has also put pressure key OPEC members such as Saudi Arabia to pump faster. The group and its partners, who include Russia, meet on Wednesday to decide on production targets for April. They will probably stick to their plan of only increasing output gradually, according to several delegates.

Saudi Aramco is the world's biggest oil exporter. More than 60% of its shipments go to Asia, with China, Japan, South Korea and India being the biggest buyers. Aramco's pricing moves often set the tone for other producers in the Middle East.

With assistance from Bloomberg