Middle East crude benchmark premiums for Oman, Dubai and Murban all ticked down on Monday.

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to fall to about 36.5 million barrels in December, trade sources said, on weak demand from the world’s largest importer.

This is a second straight month of decline and the lowest volume since July, down from about 37.5 million barrels that Chinese refiners are expected to receive in November and about 46 million barrels in October, trade data collated by Reuters showed.

Also on Monday, Kuwait lowered the official selling price (OSP) for Kuwait Export Crude (KEC) to Asia in December to $0.60 a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, down 40 cents from the previous month, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 1 cent to $0.65 a barrel.

Unipec will deliver a January-loading Upper Zakum crude cargo to TotalEnergies following the deals.

NEWS

China’s consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in four months in October while producer price deflation deepened, data showed on Saturday, even as Beijing doubled down on stimulus to support the sputtering economy.

The Biden administration said on Friday it has bought its last batch of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after selling a record amount from the facility in 2022 to counter fuel prices that had risen after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

More than a quarter of U.S. Gulf of Mexico oil and 16% of natural gas output remained offline in the aftermath of storm Rafael, the U.S. offshore energy regulator reported on Sunday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Shreya Biswas)