MOSCOW (Reuters) – Oil producer Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:) and Algeria’s Sonatrach lowered January’s official selling prices (OSPs) for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by between 1.6% and 6% from December because of weaker demand for the fuel, traders said on Thursday.
Aramco’s January OSP for propane decreased by $10 to $625 a metric ton while butane dropped by $15 to $615 a ton, the traders said.
Propane and butane are types of LPG with different boiling points.
LPG is used mainly as fuel for cars, heating and as a feedstock for other petrochemicals.
Sonatrach cut its January OSP for propane by $35 to $550 a ton and for butane by $25 to $560 per ton, traders said.
Aramco’s OSPs are used as a reference for contracts to supply LPG from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific region.
Sonatrach’s OSPs are used as benchmarks for the Mediterranean and Black Sea region, including Turkey.