7 November 2025
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, is cutting prices on all grades of its crude for Asian customers, Reuters reports, citing the monthly price list of Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s state oil company.
The price of Saudi Arabian Light crude for December delivery will be reduced by $1.20 per barrel, selling at a $1 premium over the Oman/Dubai benchmark. Similar discounts of $1.20 per barrel have been set for Arab Extra Light and Arab Super Light. Prices for Arab Medium and Arab Heavy crude will fall by $1.40 per barrel.
Saudi Arabia’s price cuts are a clear invitation to Indian refineries to buy its crude to replace Russian barrels, a source in the Indian oil industry told The Economic Times . The discounts apply to deliveries in December, the month when sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil will take full effect (the US Treasury Department has demanded that transactions with them be completed by November 21).
Reliance Industries, previously India’s largest importer of Russian oil, increased its crude purchases from Saudi Arabia by 87% in October to reduce its dependence on Russian suppliers. Discounts from the Saudis could force Reliance and India’s state-owned refineries to buy even more from the Saudis, according to the Economic Times.
According to Reuters, five Indian refiners have already suspended their purchases of Russian oil in December : in addition to Reliance Industries, these include Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, and HPCL-Mittal Energy. Together, they imported 65% of the crude coming from Russia to the Indian market—more than 1 million barrels per day.
Chinese state-owned companies have also announced a “boycott” of direct purchases from Lukoil and Rosneft. State-owned Sinopec and PetroChina have already cancelled several crude purchases from Russia and continue to remain on the sidelines. They were joined by small private refineries, fearing sanctions, as happened to Shandong Yulong Petrochemical, which is blacklisted by the UK and the EU. According to Rystad Energy, the “buyers’ strike” has affected almost 45% of Russian oil exports to China.
China will likely resume oil purchases from Russia, according to Alexey Gromov, Director of Energy at the Institute of Economics and Finance: “We’ve long conducted all settlements with Chinese companies in national currencies, yuan, and rubles. Therefore, US sanctions prohibiting dollar transactions will not affect Russian oil exports to China.”
“However, there may be issues with India,” Gromov continues: exports will likely decline, and the transition from dollars to national currencies will entail additional costs and, consequently, a reduction in margins and export revenues.
We’ll see if this deal will ween the two trash countries away from bloody mafia oil. Either way, their oil industry is crumbling, just like the rest of the shithole. Ukraine is making sure of it.
I dont like these camel jockies one bit, but every bit helps, i just dont trust them after 9/11…
I’m with you, Mike.