Saudi Arabia’s heart is like a needle in the sea. It’s really hard to guess and understand. At the OPEC+ meeting last Thursday, Saudi Arabia seemed to let the United States off the hook and promised to increase crude oil production by 400,000 barrels per day monthly as originally planned. Everyone shook hands and laughed and talked, but little did they know that Saudi Arabia immediately raised its oil prices. .
Just recently, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, announced that it would raise the price of oil to the United States and Asia in January next year. The price for Asian buyers increased by 60 cents, and the price was sold to US$3.30 per barrel. This is the highest price since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. The most expensive price. At the same time, Saudi Arabia increased prices for American buyers by 40-60 cents, but gave special treatment to European buyers. Instead of raising prices, it lowered prices.
Now, the United States and other countries are not happy, thinking that Saudi Arabia is playing with them, giving them a taste of sweetness first, and then giving them some color. It’s no wonder that before, the United States, Japan, South Korea, India and other countries jointly sold off strategic oil reserves, and Saudi Arabia had already made a note in its small notebook, waiting to settle accounts with them.
More than 60% of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil is exported to Asia, and South Korea, Japan, India and other countries are its largest buyers. This time Saudi Arabia increased the price of oil to the United States and Asia, which can be said to be a small “lesson.”
In addition, the official selling price of Saudi Aramco is a bellwether for the oil market. The big brother has released a bullish signal, and other subordinates will follow suit. On Monday, international oil prices rose by more than 1 US dollar per barrel.
What is worth pondering is that although OPEC+ said it would gradually increase production every month, it was “cutting corners.” Citi calculated that OPEC+ could not fulfill its commitment to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day every month due to insufficient investment. In fact, this number was 26.2 Thousands of barrels/day. In this context, JPMorgan Chase is optimistic about oil prices and believes that oil can rise to US$125 per barrel next year and US$150 the year after.
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