Saudi Arabia has set the official selling price of May Arab Light crude oil to Asia at a record premium of $19.50 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, an increase of $17 from the previous month, a pricing document reviewed by Reuters showed on Monday.
The sharp jump comes at a time when Middle East oil has become the world's most expensive as the US-Israel war on Iran limited shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint for a fifth of the world's oil supplies.
It remains unclear when a ceasefire will be reached or when oil exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain can resume through the strait.
Last month, Middle East high-sulphur crude benchmark Dubai rose to nearly $170 a barrel during trading in the SP Global Platts Market on Close process.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ agreed on Sunday to raise its oil output quotas by 206,000 barrels per day for May, a modest rise that will largely exist on paper as its key members are unable to raise production due to the war.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Swati Verma; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Varun H K)
