Middle East crude benchmark spot premiums Oman, Murban and Dubai nudged down on Monday after a weekly decline and are now at their lowest in about two weeks under OPEC+ output hike.
Oil slipped on Monday, weighed by Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. sovereign credit rating and official data that showed slowing growth in China’s industrial output and retail sales.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 11 cents to $1.04 a barrel.
Vitol will deliver a July-loading Murban crude cargo to PetroChina following the deals.
NEWS
China’s crude oil throughput fell in April from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, due to maintenance at state-owned refineries and as independent plants curbed output amid poor margins.
Goldman Sachs said on Sunday it is retaining a cautious outlook on oil prices, as pressure from likely elevated Iranian supply and higher OECD commercial inventories will offset support from stronger global GDP growth.
Russia detained a Greek-owned oil tanker on Sunday after it left an Estonian Baltic Sea port, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said, adding it had alerted NATO allies to the incident.
Several petrochemical producers in Asia plan to reconfigure their crackers to process more ethane to reduce costs and capitalise on rising U.S. supplies as they face thin margins and global oversupply, company executives said.
Source: Reuters