The change reflects what has become long-standing cooperation between the members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and the wider grouping on taking collective oil supply decisions.
In the previous session, oil prices edged up to a one-week high on data of rising crude oil imports in China in April and as investors saw the cooling U.S. job market as an indication of possible interest rate cuts.
India's exports of diesel and petrol fell by a fifth year-on-year to USD 33 billion in 2023-24 due to declining international prices. Diesel generated the largest share of export revenues for Indian refiners, accounting for USD 22 billion of the USD 48 billion earned by exports of refined fuels. The war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Russia caused fuel prices to rise, boosting export earnings for Indian refiners.
Indian oil refiner Reliance Industries has resubmitted a request to the US for authorization to import crude oil from Venezuela, allowing it to resume oil trade between the OPEC producer and Venezuela. French oil producer Maurel & Prom has also been granted a license to conduct oil and gas operations in Venezuela for the next two years. The US did not renew a general license for Venezuela to export oil and fuel to its chosen markets in April, but some individual authorizations to foreign firms seeking to do oil business with Venezuela would be issued.
Shell declined to comment on the talks but said Malaysia is an important country to the company. Saudi Aramco also declined to comment.
Saudi Arabia raised the official selling prices (OSPs) for its crude sold to Asia, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean in June, signalling expectations of strong demand this summer.
While the fossil fuel-based capacity includes power generation through coal, lignite, gas and diesel sources, the non-fossil fuel includes power generated from solar, wind and hydropower.
"The combination of tighter heavy crude and fuel oil supplies, as well as the seasonal rise in power generation demand is expected to push up fuel oil cracks in the weeks ahead," said Vortexa analyst Xavier Tang, referring to the spread between the price of crude and the refined product.
Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, on Wednesday offered a cargo of WTI Midland in the Platts Market on Close process, known as the Platts window.
In April, Russia's share in Indian crude oil imports rose to nearly 40%, up from 30% in March, driven by higher global oil prices. Indian refiners imported 1.78 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil from Russia, surpassing imports from China and Europe. Russia supplied more oil to India than its next three top suppliers combined. Overall, Indian crude imports dropped 8% in April, with declines from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the US.
"We are selectively investing in power, focusing on delivering value from our power portfolio, which requires making difficult choices," Shell said.
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