Middle East crude benchmark spot premiums Oman, Dubai and Murban all extended rallies on Monday to multi-month highs, supported by enhanced buying appetite from China and India.
The better demand from Asia was linked to higher prices of crude oil from Russia and Iran amid latest added sanctions by Western countries.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 1 cent to $2.24 a barrel, the highest since September.
Trafigura will deliver two February-loading Upper Zakum crude cargos to Glencore and TotalEnergies each.
Unipec and ExxonMobil will both deliver a February-loading Oman crude to TotalEnergies following the deals.
NEWS
China has issued at least 152.49 million metric tons of crude oil import quotas to independent refiners in a second batch for 2025 so far, several trade sources said on Monday.
State-run Indian refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL is buying Middle Eastern crude to make up for less supply of cheaper Russian oil, its head of finance Vetsa Ramakrishna Gupta said in a recent interview.
Uzbekistan’s state oil and gas company Uzbekneftegaz said on Monday that from Jan. 1 all its oil products will be sold on a domestic commodity exchange at market prices, shifting away from price controls.
Source: Reuters