Middle East crude benchmark Dubai was flat on Friday, while a flurry of month-end deals emerged on the final trading day of 2023.

The spot premium for Dubai was unchanged at 39 cents a barrel. Meanwhile, Murban’s spot premium rose to 67 cents a barrel.

Global crude futures were on track to end 2023 about 10% lower, the first annual decline in two years, as geopolitical concerns, production cuts and global measures to rein in inflation triggered wild fluctuations in prices.

Benchmark Brent averaged at about $82 a barrel in 2023, after a volatile 2022 when prices surged above $100 after Russian supplies were disrupted following the Ukraine war.

Investors are eyeing first-quarter supply data to see whether OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, follow through on the planned 2.2 million bpd of combined voluntary output cuts.

Market is also tracking developments in Venezuela, as the resumption of its heavy crude supply to the United States and India may dampen demand for rival grades such as Iraq’s Basrah Heavy and Canada’s Cold Lake.

OPEC is facing weakening demand for its crude in the first half of 2024, just as its global market share declines to the lowest since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Reuters calculations and data from forecasters.

Denmark’s Maersk will sail almost all container vessels travelling between Asia and Europe through the Suez Canal from now on, while diverting only a handful around Africa, a Reuters breakdown of the group’s schedule showed.

U.S. sanctions pose a major obstacle to Russia’s plans to increase exports of seaborne liquefied natural gas to offset the decline in pipeline gas exports to Europe, analysts said, as expectations mount of delays to a flagship project.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)