The top oil exporter announced in early December that it will roll over its voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for the first quarter of 2024, as part of OPEC+ group's efforts to defend oil prices.
But because Saudi Arabia's January official oil prices to Asia were much more expensive than market expectations, some refiners in China, the largest buyer of Saudi crude oil, have asked for less supply, the people said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.
About 40 million barrels were nominated by Chinese refiners for January loading, down from about 46 million barrels for December, the trading sources said.
Prices for other crude oil at similar quality to Saudi grades are assessed at much lower prices.
Spot premiums for medium sour Oman crude and light sour Murban crude averaged at around $0.5 to $0.6 a barrel over the Dubai quotes so far this month, their lowest levels in almost three years.
Despite the high Saudi prices, refiners in other North Asian countries did not ask for a lower nomination, the people said.
"I believe many have the thoughts to reduce the supply volumes. But it's not easy for us to do that. We need to maintain good relations with Saudi due to energy security concern," said one trader with a Japanese refiner.
