由于沙特阿拉伯和其他中东产油国的供应减少，含硫原油价格大幅上涨

全球含硫原油供应减少导致买家寻求替代来源，进一步推高了该产品价格

全球含硫原油价格上涨的例子包括美国玛尔斯含硫原油、西加拿大精选原油(WCS)和挪威约翰斯维尔德鲁普原油，这些含硫原油都因供应减少而价格上涨

据油价网2023年7月12日报道，沙特阿拉伯及欧佩克+成员国的减产可能没有提振国际原油期货价格，但近几周，全球最大原油出口国供应减少，导致含硫原油价格上涨。

6月初，欧佩克+产油国决定将目前的减产维持到2024年底，而欧佩克最大的产油国沙特阿拉伯表示，将在7月份自愿将原油日产量减少100万桶至900万桶左右。上周，沙特阿拉伯又表示，将把单方面每天减产100万桶原油产量的协议延长至8月份，并上调部分等级原油价格，以便8月装船运往亚洲。

沙特阿拉伯和其他中东产油国从5月份开始减产，已经对中质含硫酸原油和重质原油供应产生了巨大影响，价格正在上涨。相比之下，布伦特等轻质原油以及支撑布伦特基准的其他等级原油的供应量一直较高。换句话说，国际基准布伦特原油价格并没有反映出含硫原油的紧张程度，尽管欧佩克+和沙特阿拉伯都在减产，但到目前为止，布伦特原油价格仍未能突破每桶80美元。

随着沙特和其他中东含硫原油供应减少，买家开始在世界其他地区寻找替代品，这推高了含硫原油的价格。

例如，美国、加拿大和北海的含硫原油价格已经出现反弹。上周末，美国玛尔斯含硫原油在库欣中心的交易价格较美国其他品种原油期货价格每桶溢价2美元，据路透社估计，这是三年来玛尔斯原油期货的最高溢价。玛尔斯原油的交易价格也高于轻质低硫原油WTI米德兰原油，出现了罕见的价格逆转。

在挪威，约翰斯维尔德鲁普大型海上油田生产的中质含硫原油上周五较布伦特原油溢价达到每桶3.50美元。交易商告诉彭博新闻社记者，沙特阿拉伯石油价格的上涨和沙特阿拉伯原油供应的减少使约翰斯维尔德鲁普原油价格上涨。由于挪威原油的含硫量较高，约翰斯维尔德鲁普原油的交易价格通常低于布伦特原油到期价格。6个月前，约翰斯维尔德鲁普原油的交易价格较布伦特原油价格每桶低6美元。

李峻 译自 油价网

原文如下：

Sour Crude Oil Prices Skyrocket As Saudi Arabia Tightens Supply

·     Due to reduced supply from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern producers, sour crude oil prices have seen a significant surge.

·     This reduced supply has led to buyers seeking alternative sources, further driving up the price of sour crude oils globally.

·     Examples of this increase include U.S. Mars sour crude, Canadian Western Canada Select (WCS), and Norwegian Johan Sverdrup crude, all experiencing elevated prices due to the supply cut.

Saudi Arabia and its fellow OPEC+ producers may not have lifted the international crude oil futures with their production cuts, but the reduced supply from the world’s top crude exporter has sent the prices of sour crudes rallying in recent weeks.  

In early June, the OPEC+ producers decided to keep the current cuts until the end of 2024, while OPEC’s top producer, Saudi Arabia, said it would voluntarily reduce its production by 1 million bpd in July to around 9 million bpd. Last week, Saudi Arabia said it would extend its unilateral 1 million bpd production cut into August and raised the prices of some of its grades – all of which are sour – for loading for Asia in August. 

The cuts from Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern producers, which began in May, have already had an outsized impact on the medium-sour and heavy supply, and prices are rallying. In contrast, the availability of lighter crude, such as Brent and other grades underpinning the Brent benchmark, has been higher. In other words, the physical tightness in sour crude grades hasn’t been reflected in the international Brent Crude benchmark, which – despite all the cuts from OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia – has failed to move above $80 per barrel so far. 

With a lower supply of Saudi and other Middle Eastern sour crudes, buyers are looking for alternatives in other parts of the world, driving up sour crude prices. 

For example, U.S., Canadian, and North Sea sour grades have seen prices rallying. The U.S. Mars sour crude traded at the end of last week at a $2 per barrel premium to U.S. crude futures at the Cushing hub—the highest Mars premium in three years, per Reuters estimates. Mars is also trading at a premium to WTI Midland, a light sweet crude, in a rare pricing reversal.  

In Canada, the heavy Western Canada Select (WCS) from Alberta has narrowed the discount to the WTI benchmark to $10 per barrel, the narrowest discount since Alberta mandated production cuts in 2019.

In Norway, the medium sour Johan Sverdrup crude from the massive oilfield of the same name traded on Friday at a record-high premium over Dated Brent, at $3.50 per barrel. The Saudi price hike and the reduced supply of Saudi crudes have sent Johan Sverdrup prices rallying, traders told Bloomberg. Johan Sverdrup typically trades at a discount to Dated Brent due to the higher sulfur content of the Norwegian grade. Six months ago, Johan Sverdrup traded at a $6 per barrel discount to Dated Brent.