Saudi Aramco cuts its oil prices

Ninety-five percent of Venezuela’s exports result from crude oil. Exports year-to-date to the USA have risen, but remain under pressure.

Oil continued to rally in Asia on Monday, although optimism was tempered by poor USA unemployment data.

But Moscow is now prepared to meet OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers to discuss oil markets if such a meeting is called, its energy minister said on Saturday.

Analysts say the risk factor is now built into the price as Russian forces took a stronger stand launching air strikes midweek and Iranian troops are reported to be on the ground in Syria. When the dollar falls in value, crude oil becomes more attractive to foreign buyers. The worldwide Monetary Fund conjectures the Saudi government will run a financial plan deficiency this year of around 19.5% of total national output, contrasted and a shortage of 3.4% of GDP a year ago.

The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday said USA nonfarm payrolls rose by 142,000 jobs in September, far below the 200,000 gain expected in the consensus estimate of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

Despite rising in 2015, USA imports of Saudi crude are far below previous highs.

Saudi Aramco, as the producer is known, widened the discount for Arab Light crude to Asia by $1.70 a barrel to $1.60 a barrel less than the benchmark, according to the statement.

Since Y 2007, this is the 2nd-highest Saudi exports in 1-H of the year to those countries.

Crude Oil is trading at 48 bbl, less than 50% its price as of June 2014.

Around the same time, one of the world’s most compelling Saudi Arabia’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi said his nation would keep putting resources into oil and gas, saying his nation stayed focused on energy asset improvement, as per a Saudi Press Agency report. They fell below seven million bpd in seven months of 2014, having exceeded that rate in every month of 2012 and 2013.

Oil investors have closely watched US production this year to see when spending cuts would lead to lower production.

“Look at demand first“, this source said.

The Saudi OSP also reflects the changing dynamics of the Middle East oil market, where prices have been moved dramatically by the intermittent, but massive, participation of the trading arms of the Chinese state-controlled oil majors. And the strategy seems working too.

Those Key factors are moving in favorable directions for Riyadh. “It will continue until we begin to see the gap between supply and demand showing a sustainable trend towards narrowing”.