Middle East crude benchmarks were mixed on Tuesday, with Oman and Murban extending losses while Dubai drifted higher.

The spread between Brent- and Dubai-linked crude narrowed to $1.7 a barrel, a level last seen a month earlier. A narrower spread could encourage Asian refiners to look for supplies from Brent-pegged Atlantic Basin crudes.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s northern oil exports showed few concrete signs of an imminent restart after a month of standstill, as aspects of an agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have yet to be resolved, according to four sources.

RUSSIAN OIL

Russia’s oil output this year is on course to top 480 million tonnes, or about 9.6 million barrels per day (bpd), a Russian government source familiar with the data told Reuters.

China’s increased purchases of April-loading Urals oil and imports of the grade loading from Russia’s Baltic and Black Sea ports this month may hit an 11-months high supporting its prices, traders said and Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

China has purchased some 265,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Urals oil loading from Primorsk, Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk in April so far, up from 195,000 bpd of the grade loading in March, the data showed.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps gained 16 cents to $1.50 a barrel.

NEWS

Global diesel margins have slumped by about half since February, dragging on refiners’ profits, as Russian exports continue despite sanctions, helping output from China and India reach all-time highs in March.

U.S. crude oil and product inventories were seen declining last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Colombia’s majority state-owned oil company Ecopetrol ECOPETROL will use new technology, including artificial intelligence, to improve exploration success rates and boost output from existing fields, new Chief Executive Ricardo Roa said on Monday.
Source: Reuters