据油价网5月8日消息，路透社援引知情人士消息称，在沙特王国下调全球第三大进口国的原油价格后，印度国有炼油商正在订购6月份的常规量原油。

沙特阿拉伯本月早些时候将其对亚洲客户的官方售价下调了0.10 - 0.30美元，以应对印度新冠病毒感染病例的激增，这对其石油需求造成了负面影响。彭博社指出，这是自去年12月以来沙特原油首次降价，反映出亚洲主要市场需求的疲软。

在欧佩克+同意开始增加石油日产量几天后，欧佩克最大的产油国宣布向亚洲买家提高油价，从而减少了印度一再抗议其所谓的人为维持油价高企的产量限制。接下来的一个月，亚洲炼油商和交易员不得不为沙特原油支付高于阿曼/迪拜基准均价1.80美元的价格。

作为回应，印度要求其国有炼油商在5月份减少对沙特原油的订单，并寻找替代品，继续努力减少其对中东石油的过度依赖。

印度政府消息人士在三月初对路透社表示：“我们已要求企业积极寻求多元化。我们不能被中东生产商的任意决定所束缚。当他们想要稳定市场时，我们会支持他们。”

现在，沙特阿拉伯已将其旗舰级阿拉伯轻质原油的价格降至比阿曼/迪拜基准原油均价高出1.70美元的水平。与此同时，沙特将美国买家的原油价格提高了0.20美元/桶，以反映美国经济的反弹，这推动了对原油的需求。

路透社的一位消息人士对该通讯社表示:“这次，沙特阿美没有指示在6月削减进口量，而且与上次不同，他们也降低了价格。”

裘寅 编译自 油价网

原文如下：

India Ramps Up Oil Imports From Saudi Arabia After Price Cut

India's state-owned refiners are ordering their regular volumes of Saudi crude oil for June after the Kingdom reduced its prices for the world's third-largest importer, Reuters has reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.

Saudi Arabia cut its official selling price for Asian clients earlier this month by between $0.10 and $0.30 in response to the surge in Covid-19 infections in India, which had a negative impact on its oil demand. Bloomberg noted this was the first price reduction of Saudi crude since December last year, reflecting weakening demand in the key Asian markets.

OPEC's largest producer announced oil price hikes for Asian buyers days after OPEC+ agreed to start adding barrels to their daily output, reducing a production curb that has had India repeatedly protesting against what it calls an artificial way of keeping oil prices high. The following month, Asian refiners and traders had to pay $1.80 above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average for shipments of Saudi crude.

In response, India ordered its state-owned refiners to reduce their orders for Saudi crude in May and look for alternatives in continuation of efforts to reduce its overwhelming dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

"We have asked companies to aggressively look for diversification. We cannot be held hostage to the arbitrary decision of Middle East producers. When they wanted to stabilize the market we stood by them," an Indian government source told Reuters in early March.

Now, Saudi Arabia has cut the price of its flagship Arab Light grade to $1.70 above the Oman/Dubai benchmark average. At the same time, Riyadh raised prices for U.S. buyers by $0.20 per barrel to reflect the U.S. economic rebound, which has pushed up demand for crude.

"This time there is no direction from the ministry to cut imports in June and unlike last time they (Aramco) have reduced the prices as well," one of Reuters' sources told the news agency.