Saudi Aramco’s talks with Asian refiners on next year’s supply have hit trouble, Bloomberg reports. The dispute over Aramco term contracts turns on cargoes buyers could not lift this year. The Middle East war cut Gulf exports, so refiners turned to the spot market instead.
The sticking point in Aramco term contracts
Aramco raised spot sales to Asia from early September, as flows through the Strait of Hormuz partly recovered. Now, refiners want those spot purchases to count towards their 2026 contract volumes. Otherwise, many of them will miss their obligations, traders said.
However, Aramco is pushing back. It wants buyers to take more oil under contract next year to make up the shortfall. At least one refiner has resisted that demand, according to traders. Aramco declined to comment.
Why the timing matters
Term talks usually end by late October. After that, Asian refiners buy January-loading Gulf crude on the spot market in November. So they need to know their term volumes soon. Meanwhile, the row is already slowing spot buying of Saudi and other Gulf crude.
By contrast, ADNOC is letting some Asian buyers count spot barrels towards this year’s obligations. It has not decided whether to do the same in 2027. Aramco, for its part, has floated new pricing benchmarks and delivery terms. One option would see it ship crude to some buyers itself.
For more on how Gulf supply reaches India, see our story on India’s crude import bill.
