Middle Eastern benchmarks traded mixed on Thursday, with Dubai edging up and Murban crude falling for a fourth session.
Spot premium for light sour Murban was at its lowest in a week at $1.48 a barrel over the Dubai quotes.
The price decline comes as the spread between Brent- and Dubai-pegged oil narrowed and as abundant supplies of the grade linger in the market. DUB-EFS-1M
China’s Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Corp (ZPC) has sold some of its term Upper Zakum and Murban supplies from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in the first quarter of next year in a rare move by a refiner, four market sources said on Thursday.
In tenders, Qatar Energy slashed the price for term cargoes of Al-Shaheen crude oil loading in January 2024 to a four-month low, trade sources said on Thursday, mirroring weaker benchmark oil prices prompted by market concerns about sluggish demand.
The January price was trimmed to about $1.75 a barrel above the Dubai quotes, touching its lowest level since September and down from December’s $3.25 a barrel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps gained 2 cents to $1.52 a barrel.
Total will deliver one January-loading Murban cargo to Glencore following the trades.
NEWS
Vitol VITOLV.UL, world’s largest independent oil trader, has provisionally chartered a supertanker to load oil from Venezuela for China, according to two shipbrokers and data from shiptracking firms Kpler and Vortexa.
Russian oil tankers are not targeted in the European Commission’s proposal for tightening the implementation of a price cap on the country’s crude oil, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.
Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA is offering to sell up to 1 million barrels of Corocoro crude through an intermediary, sources said on Wednesday, which could become the first sale of that grade in two years.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped last week, while gasoline inventories posted a surprise draw as refineries picked up runs amid seasonally strong demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; editing by Eileen Soreng)