Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban kicked off a new month’s trade at stronger levels than last month on Monday.

Spot premiums for the three benchmark grades were in the range of $1.30-$1.54, compared with last month’s average of a little over 80 cents a barrel each.

SAUDI OSP PREVIEW

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may cut prices for crude grades it sells to Asia for a second month in August, tracking weakness in Middle East benchmark Dubai, trade sources said.

The official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude sold to Asia in August may fall by 60 cents to 80 cents a barrel from July, possibly to the lowest since April, four sources at Asian refineries said in a Reuters survey.

The respondents expect slightly deeper price cuts for heavier grades – Arab Medium and Arab Heavy – than Arab Light on improving supply from Mexico and Canada.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps was at $1.54 a barrel.

Supply of the five North Sea crude oil grades underpinning the dated Brent benchmark will average about 542,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August, compared with 588,000 bpd in July, loading programmes showed.

About 20 ships loaded crude oil on Canada’s West Coast in the first full month of operation on the newly expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, slightly below the operator’s forecast.

The official selling price of a basket of June-loading Malaysian Crude Oil (MCO) grades OSP/MY has been set at $89.76 a barrel.

China is setting up a new entity that groups national oil producers and other state firms to search for ultra-deep oil and gas reserves and tackle harder-to-extract non-conventional resources, state energy group CNPC said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Sudarshan Varadhan; Editing by Vijay Kishore)