Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai both firmed against a backdrop of increased trading liquidity on the window and talks of more refining run cuts regionally despite the start-up of one greenfield refinery in China.
A total of four November Upper Zakum cargoes are slated to be delivered, after window trades, with Mitsui, Vitol and North Petroleum taking from ExxonMobil. Trafigura will deliver the fourth cargo to North Petroleum.
So far for November, Zhenhua will be taking delivery of three Upper Zakum cargoes from window deals this month.
The Brent-Dubai spread bounced back from the previous trading session to close at $2 a barrel, with Brent markets still slightly supported by slightly tighter supplies in that region, some analysts said.
On the new start-up front, several China-based traders said Shandong Yulong was running their crude unit at around 60% for now and selling some refined products in the local market.
RUSSIAN CRUDE:
Russia’s Far East ESPO Blend oil grade has firmed to premium against the Brent benchmark on delivery basis for the first time since November 2023 on higher demand from Chinese refiners cooling India’s buying, three trade sources told Reuters.
ESPO Blend cargoes loading in November traded at premium of $0.20-0.50 per barrel at DES (delivered ex-ship) China basis, depending on the seller, terms of the deal and loading dates, the sources said.
State trader Unipec, the trading arm of refining major Sinopec, has also ramped up purchases, taking about 10 cargoes of ESPO Blend loading in October, according to one of the trading sources based in Shandong.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 16 cents to $1.96 a barrel.
NEWS
– Exports of the four key Nigerian crude oil grades – Qua Iboe, Forcados, Bonny Light and Bonga – are set to reach a combined 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November, preliminary loading schedules seen by Reuters show.
– Libya’s crude oil exports have slumped to about 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) this month from August’s 1.02 million bpd, port and shipping data show, as the OPEC member grapples with a political crisis that has slashed output.
– OPEC raised its forecasts for world oil demand for the medium and long term in an annual outlook, citing growth led by India, Africa and the Middle East and a slower shift to electric vehicles and cleaner fuels.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)