Opec+ and Saudi will stay cautious on oil output: Vitol

Opec+ and Saudi will stay cautious on oil output: Vitol

Bloomberg / London

Saudi Arabia’s larger-than-expected rise in oil prices is a signal it will continue resisting US pressure to pump faster, according to Vitol Group.

Saudi Aramco hiked December prices for customers in Asia, the US and Europe on Friday, a day after Opec+ stuck to its plan to boost output only at a gradual pace. The state producer’s month-on-month increase in the official selling price, or OSP, for its main Asian grade was the third-largest this century, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“They are unlikely to change stance,” Mike Muller, the head of Asia for Vitol, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, told Bloomberg on Sunday.

US President Joe Biden called on Opec+, a 23-nation alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, to speed up the easing of supply curbs it began in early 2020 with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Oil has climbed around 60% this year to more than $80 a barrel because of the global economic recovery and Opec+’s cuts. That’s hit American drivers by pushing gasoline up to a seven-year high of $3.70 a gallon.

Saudi Arabia “went further with the OSPs than anyone expected,” Muller said earlier on a webinar. “That was a signal