Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban ticked up on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump’s renewed push to eliminate Iranian crude exports.

Trump on Tuesday restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Meanwhile, spot trade for the Middle East market increased on Wednesday as China came back from a week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 7 cents to $3.59 a barrel.

NEWS

French oil major TotalEnergies TTE reported a 15% drop in fourth-quarter earnings, closing out a year marked by low oil prices and weak fuel demand that were partially offset by higher electricity sales and liquefied natural gas trading.

Equinor EQNR raised its 2030 oil and gas output forecast and scaled back plans for renewable energy capacity expansion, while reporting a smaller-than-expected decline in profit for the final quarter of 2024.

Oil major BP BP. is expected to spend up to $25 billion over the lifetime of a project to redevelop four Kirkuk oil and gas fields, a senior Iraqi oil official told Reuters, as Baghdad seeks to win back foreign investment.

A Ukrainian drone attack overnight sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s southern region of Krasnodar that has since been extinguished, regional officials said.

Fuel oil margins climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed a tougher policy on Iran, though trade sources expect a short-lived rally amid unclear supply disruption, while softer China demand and broader tariff concerns weighed on sentiment.
Source: Reuters