Middle East crude benchmark spot premiums of Murban extended a rally on Wednesday to its highest in seven months, and Oman gained while Dubai declined.
The surge in Murban premium was explained by one trader as a result of a short squeeze, which sometimes happens at the end of this month, and because trading liquidity was light.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 11 cents to $2.04 a barrel.
Unipec will deliver two October-loading Upper Zakum crude cargoes, to PetroChina and Trafigura each following the deals.
Gunvor will deliver an October-loading Oman crude cargo to Trafigura following the deals.
BP will deliver an October-loading Dubai crude cargo to Trafigura following the deals.
NEWS
India saved billions of dollars by stepping up imports of discounted Russian oil in the wake of the war in Ukraine, but punitive tariffs imposed by the U.S. that came into effect on Wednesday will quickly undo the gains, with no easy solutions in sight.
Kazakhstan is holding talks to resume oil transit via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday, citing the Central Asian country’s energy ministry.
Russia has revised up its crude oil export plan from western ports by 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August from the initial schedule after Ukrainian drone attacks disrupted refinery operations and freed up more crude for shipment, three people familiar with the matter said.
Small and stand-alone naphtha crackers are likely to shut while some plants could merge as part of an overhaul of South Korea’s oversupplied petrochemical sector, analysts said, which will cut naphtha demand at the world’s largest importer of the fuel.
Source: Reuters