Middle East crude benchmark spot premiums Oman, Dubai and Murban rose on Friday, tracking gains in oil prices.
On a weekly basis, all premiums posted a decline after a sharp increase last week, and still hovered around over one-year high as U.S. sanctions disrupted Russian supply and buyers in China and India scrambled for alternative supplies.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 29 cents to $4.59 a barrel.
Unipec will deliver a March Murban crude cargo to TotalEnergies following the deals.
NEWS
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would demand Saudi Arabia and OPEC bring down the cost of oil and would ask Riyadh to increase a planned U.S. investment package to $1 trillion from an initial reported $600 billion.
U.S. crude oil inventories slipped to their lowest level since March 2022 last week, even as refining activity fell sharply, cutting demand for crude, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Thursday.
Freight rates for Russian ESPO Blend oil loading from the Far Eastern port of Kozmino have jumped fivefold amid a lack of vessels after fresh U.S. sanctions cut availability of tankers, three traders said and data showed.
Source: Reuters