Spot on

摘要

The oil market’s tendency to surplus since the rise of US shale is pressuring producers to change how they price their oil in the key Asia-Pacifc market. The balance of power is tilting in favour of buyers. Refners east of Suez are changing old habits and increasingly leaving more room in their buying programmes for spot crude purchases at the expense of term volumes. Mideast Gulf producers are beginning to change outmoded pricing arrangements to keep their oil competitive with new fows in their most important market.