Saudi Aramco Hikes December Crude Prices to Asia

Saudi Aramco, the world's largest state-owned oil company, has hiked its prices on crude destined for Asia for December. The increase is the third rise in as many months for the oil giant.

Arab Super Light crude saw the biggest increase, with Saudi Aramco raising it by $1.45 a barrel to a $3.35 premium over the average of Oman and Dubai grades.

The price increases in Asia weren't an indicative trend in the west, as light and medium crude exported to the US lowered by 5 cents a barrel in December. The total increase of Aramco crude exports to the US dropped from 20 percent in 2008 to 14 percent this year. The surplus crude was made up in China, which bought on average more than 1 million barrels of Saudi crude a day last year, an increase on the previous year.

Saudi Arabia was the fourth-biggest exporter of crude to the US last year, dropping from second place in 2008, data from the US Energy Information Administration show. Canada, Mexico and Venezuela all shipped more crude to the US, the data show.

The price of Extra Light and Arab Heavy crudes remained unchanged.

According to Bloomberg, Crude oil for December delivery rose 0.6 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange during October to $81.43 a barrel at the close of trading on 29 October. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said this week that crude-importing countries are happy with prices between $70 and $90 a barrel, a broader range than the $70-to-$80 spread that he said on March 30 was "as close to perfect as possible."

As well as price cuts to the US, Aramco announced cut prices to all crude types heading to the Mediterranean, and on most oil types to Northwest Europe.

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