Middle East crude benchmarks weakened on Monday following a mild recovery late last week, while spot premiums for some regional grades also fell.

Discounts for Dubai and Oman widened from the previous session, amid a backdrop of thin trade and liquidity.

Meanwhile, spot premiums for regional grades loading in February fell as Malaysia and Vietnam will increase exports due to maintenance at local refineries, traders said.

PV Oil sold its February-loading Ruby crude cargo to PTT at a premium of above $5 a barrel to dated Brent, the traders said, while Petroleum Brunei sold its Kimanis cargo at a premium of more than $1 a barrel above its official selling price.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s discount to swaps widened 9 cents to 46 cents a barrel.

REFINERY

The small crude distillation unit remains shut three weeks after the end of planned overhaul work at TotalEnergies’ 238,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery, said people familiar with plant operations.

NEWS

Egypt’s Suez canal authority said on Sunday it was closely monitoring the impact of tensions in the Red Sea after recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on vessels in the southern part of the basin.

Two major freight firms including MSC, the world’s biggest container shipping line, on Saturday said they would avoid the Suez Canal as Houthi militants in Yemen stepped up their assaults on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Russia said on Sunday it would deepen oil export cuts in December by potentially 50,000 barrels per day or more, earlier than promised, as the world’s biggest exporters try to support the global oil price

Goldman Sachs trimmed its price expectation for Brent crude in 2024 by $10 per barrel to between $70 and $90, saying strong production from the United States would moderate any upside in oil prices.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan and Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Eileen Soreng)