According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco has reduced its official crude oil selling price for Asian clients in response to the recent price increase, which was fuelled by OPEC+’s decision to keep to monthly increases of 400,000 bpd.

The Kingdom has cut the prices for all grades for its biggest market, with Arab Light now selling for $0.40 per barrel less, for a total price of $1.30 above the Dubai benchmark, the lowest since March. The Kingdom also cut the prices for most of its oil shipments to Mediterranean Northwest Europe and the United States.

The global gas shortage has lifted oil demand by half a million barrels per day, according to Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser, who expects demand to hit 99 million bpd by the end of this year and top 100 million bpd in 2022. Aramco’s ambition to increase its maximum sustained production capacity to 13 million barrels per day appears to have been bolstered as a result of this.

He was quoted by Reuters during an energy conference saying: “Our maximum sustained capacity from 12 to 13 million (bpd) is not going to come to full capacity at 13 million bpd until 2027.”

According to reports, Asia accounts for up to 60% of Aramco’s oil exports.