China Cuts Saudi Crude Imports

China’s Sinopec will cut its June imports of crude from Saudi Arabia by 40% for the second month in a row because of "unjustified" high prices, an official from the top Asian refiner, Unipec, told Reuters. Saudi Arabia raised the price for its Arab Light to a four-year high, and according to the Unipec official, the grade is now considerably overvalued compared to other Middle Eastern crudes, RT reported. Last month, a Unipec official told Reuters, “Our refineries think these are unreasonable prices as they do not follow the pricing methodology.” Besides Sinopec, a source from another two refineries in northern Asia said they will be cutting their imports from Saudi Arabia by 10% as oil buyers have a hard time grasping how the kingdom is calculating the price of its most popular grade. The price increase came as a surprise to the biggest crude market in the world. However, it is likely that Sinopec will be penalized for the reduction.