Middle East crude benchmark spot premium for Dubai rose on Wednesday to a near four-week high, while that for Oman and Murban slipped.

Oil prices held steady on Wednesday as markets evaluated a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah while also anticipating Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting, where the group could delay a planned increase in oil output.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 20 cents to $0.97 a barrel.

NEWS

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump does not intend to spare crude oil from his planned 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the oil industry warned the policy could hurt consumers, industry and national security.

Oil producers in Canada and Mexico will likely be forced to reduce prices and divert supply to Asia if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump imposes 25% import tariffs on crude imports from the two countries, traders and analysts said.

OPEC+ nations are discussing a further delay to a planned oil output hike that was due to start in January, two sources from the producer group said on Tuesday, ahead of Sunday’s meeting to decide policy for the early months of 2025.

Crude production from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Russia has declined in compliance with OPEC+ production cuts, supporting a modest near term upside to Brent prices, Goldman Sachs said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore.Editing by Jane Merriman)