By Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) -Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may raise prices for crude it sells to Asia for the first time in three months in September, tracking a rise in Middle East benchmark Dubai, traders said on Thursday.

The official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude to be loaded in September for Asia is expected to rise by 50 to 80 cents a barrel from the previous month, four refining sources told Reuters in a survey.

The price spread between the first and third month cash Dubai widened in backwardation by about 80 cents a barrel last month, Reuters data showed, as spot demand for Middle East crude rose after supplies from the U.S. and Europe became more expensive for Asian buyers.

Energy major PetroChina snapped up 13 cargoes on Platts window last month, traders said, tightening medium-sour crude supply.

Still, slow recovery in Asia's refining margins and weak refined products demand in China, the world's top crude importer, may limit the room for Saudi price hikes, some of the respondents said.

Complex refinery margins in Singapore averaged at $3.69 a barrel in June, up from $2.94 in May but remained lower than April, LSEG data showed. DUB-SIN-REF

On Thursday, top ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, or OPEC+ as the group is known, will hold an online joint ministerial monitoring committee meeting (JMMC).

The panel is unlikely to make any changes to its current deal to cut production and to start unwinding some cuts from October, despite recent sharp declines in oil prices, five sources from the producer group told Reuters.
Saudi crude OSPs are usually released around the fifth of each month, and set the trend for Iranian, Kuwaiti and Iraqi prices, affecting about 9 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude bound for Asia.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco sets its crude prices based on recommendations from customers and after calculating the change in the value of its oil over the past month, based on yields and product prices.

Saudi Aramco officials as a matter of policy do not comment on the kingdom's monthly OSPs.

Below are expected Saudi prices for September (in $/bbl against the Oman/Dubai average):

Source: Reuters, trade

Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Michael Perry

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