Kuwait raises May crude prices for Asia, pricing document shows
3D-printed oil pump jacks and a Kuwait flag appear in this illustration taken March 2, 2026. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
April 13 : Kuwait has raised the official selling price for Kuwait Export Crude to Asia in May to $17 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes from a premium of $0.50 in April, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed on Monday.
The news came after the U.S. military said it would begin a blockade nL6N40V09S of maritime traffic through Iranian ports and coastal areas, after weekend talks failed to clinch a deal to end the Iran war https://www.reuters.com/world/iran/, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.
The document showed the producer also increased the May Kuwait Super Light crude OSP to $17 a barrel above Oman/Dubai quotes, from a $1.15 premium for April.
Middle East producers have lifted Asia-bound official prices sharply for May, with Saudi Arabia setting the price of its Arab Light crude to Asia at a record premium nL1N40P04E of $19.50 a barrel to the Oman/Dubai average, and Iraq nL1N40R0M9 raising the price for its Basrah Medium crude to Asia by $17.
Middle East crude has become the priciest globally after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for about a fifth of the world's oil supplies.
This month OPEC+ agreed to raise oil output quotas for May by 206,000 barrels per day, a modest rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production due to the Iran war.
The increase comes as analysts expect the hit to global oil production to flip the oil market nL6N40T12T into a supply deficit this year, versus pre-conflict estimates of a comfortable oversupply.
(Anjana Anil and Pablo Sinha in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Clarence Fernandez)
