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Saudi Aramco Cuts Arab Light Price by $11 per Barrel for August
Saudi Aramco will sell Arab Light crude at a $1.50 discount to the benchmark, the first such move since 2020. The record reduction follows a surge in global supply after the mid-June US-Iran peace deal reopened the Strait of Hormuz.
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Saudi Aramco will lower the official selling price of Arab Light crude for August by $11 a barrel to a $1.50 discount over the regional benchmark, @zerohedge reported, citing a price list seen by Bloomberg. The cut is the largest monthly reduction for the grade since at least 2000 and marks the first time Saudi Aramco has sold Arab Light at a discount since the 2020 price war.
The previous instances occurred during price wars in 2020 and 2015.
The price adjustment follows a surge in global oil supply after the interim US-Iran peace deal took effect in mid-June 2026. The agreement allowed traffic to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, the key chokepoint that had been largely blocked since the start of hostilities. Brent crude has given up all its wartime gains and traded below $72 a barrel on Tuesday, July 1, 2026.
Before the conflict, Saudi Arabia loaded most of its crude from within the Persian Gulf, but diverted some shipments to its Red Sea facility at Yanbu while Hormuz was blocked. The kingdom also made the rare move of selling some cargoes on a spot basis in recent days after flows through the strait resumed.
Chinese oil demand and imports have collapsed in recent months, leaving Iran unable to find buyers and resulting in full tankers piling up off China.
Official prices from other Middle East producers are expected to be released in the coming days after July 4, 2026.
