Saudis cut main oil price to Asia as Hormuz talks progress - The Edge Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, 6 AUGUST 2026 —

Headline: Saudis cut main oil price to Asia as Hormuz talks progress - The Edge Malaysia Lead: Saudis cut main oil price to Asia as Hormuz talks progress The Edge Malaysia Body: (Aug 6): Saudi Arabia cut its main crude oil price for Asia as talks to ease shipping through the vital Strait of Hormuz chokepoint appear to advance, even as threats to Red Sea transits persist.

Global benchmark Brent crude has slumped this week and is trading near US$80 a barrel on growing expectations that flows through Hormuz may soon increase. Iran said an agreement with Oman on a proposed route for shipping through the critical waterway was in the final stages, a potential step towards reopening it for energy supplies. The outcome is still uncertain, and Tehran didn’t mention any role for the US.

As the US war with Iran upended crude markets and blocked Hormuz, the gateway to the Persian Gulf, Aramco rushed to divert the bulk of its export volumes to the Red Sea port of Yanbu in the country’s west. The kingdom’s East-West pipeline became a lifeline to reach markets, yet threats against Red Sea shipping by Iran-backed Houthi militants risk imperiling the alternative route.

Aramco also cut prices for all of its crude grades to the US, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean region. The company increased prices only for its Medium and Heavy crudes for sale to Asia next month. Those barrels, which are shipped from the Persian Gulf and similar in quality to most of the region’s output, are in short supply with Hormuz still blocked.

So far Aramco has sustained crude exports at about five million barrels a day, chief executive officer Amin Nasser said on an earnings conference call on Tuesday. That’s about 70% of the company’s normal level of shipments.

Leaning on the East-Wast pipeline, Aramco has been able to load tankers at Yanbu and sail the vessels south through the Bab El-Mandeb strait off Yemen’s coast. If that route is blocked, ships may be forced to take a longer route to Asia, sailing north from Yanbu to cross the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea before travelling around Africa. That could add 20 to 25 days to shipments to Asia, Nasser said. The Houthi rebels this week threatened to also attack Saudi vessels taking that route.

Buyers in Asia, including Chinese, Indian and South Korean refiners, have been increasingly relying on Yanbu since the effective closure of Hormuz stopped most loading in the Persian Gulf. Opening Hormuz to the free flow of oil tankers would allow Aramco to ramp up shipments from its main export terminal at Ras Tanura on the Gulf. Previous openings have been hampered by renewed fighting and vessel attacks.

Maintaining open trade routes is key as Aramco tries to restore production and meet fuel demand with supplies from its refineries. The Saudi-led Opec+ group over the weekend agreed to another increase in production quotas, unwinding previous output limits. While the move is symbolic for now, given restraints on Gulf production and exports, it will eventually allow Saudi Arabia to ramp up output close to 10.5 million barrels daily. Source: The Edge Malaysia Published: 2026-08-06T09:56:24.000Z Region: World Topic: Finance (AI-assisted rewrite, based on the original source)

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