Saudi to supply full September crude to three Asia buyers

Saudi to supply full September crude to three Asia buyers

Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia will supply full contracted volumes of crude to at least three Asian term buyers in September, unchanged from August, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

August 9, 2012 11:38 by Reuters

The move had been expected, as the OPEC kingpin has supplied full contractual volumes to most Asian buyers since late 2009.

“There was no cut, and (the Saudis) did not make any changes on the volumes for each grade,” one source said.

Saudi Arabia had cut official selling prices (OSPs) in September for three of the five grades of crude it supplies to Asia, a move that may push refiners to use an operational tolerance clause in contracts to load up to 10 percent more oil, traders said, depending on the loading programme and the availability of tankers.

Refiners would decide this later, they added.

Saudi Arabia kept crude output in July at 10 million barrels per day, near the highest rate in decades, although it trimmed supply slightly because of lower demand from some customers, such as those in the United States, a Reuters survey showed.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori, Judy Hua in Beijing, Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Clarence Fernandez)

lly 8 � fr`�`�s in Saudi Arabia. Arabtec, whose Saudi projects are slowly starting up after initial delays, said its gross margins fell 9.9 percent year on year.

Hasman said the Abu Dhabi contract, one of the largest ever secured by Arabtec, may have added to expenses.

“While the company’s cash flow statement gives no indication of excessive provisioning, we initially believe that the surge in selling, general and administrative expenses (SG&A) may have been related to the Abu Dhabi Midfield terminal contract preparation,” said the note.

Contract costs rose to 1.2 billion dirhams from 1 billion and administrative expenses jumped 62 percent to 154 million.

Arabtec shares – which have more than doubled in value this year as Abu Dhabi investment firm Aabar built a 21.6 percent stake in the builder – closed 4 percent lower on the Dubai bourse.

Arabtec is expected to secure more contracts from the UAE’s wealthy capital. The Dubai firm also named Aabar’s Khadem Al Qubaisi as chairman in May, a sign of the investment firm’s growing influence in the company.

Aabar, which owns stakes in high-profile companies such as German carmaker Daimler and commodities trader Glencore, dropped a $1.7 billion bid for a 70 percent stake in Arabtec two years ago.

($1 = 3.6730 UAE dirhams)

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)