Middle East crude benchmarks extended their rally on Friday and ended this week at a level of $5 per barrel, about three times higher than last Friday.
The sharp gains among Murban, Dubai and Oman premiums as buyers in China and India scrambled for alternative supplies after the latest sanctions by the Biden administration hit Russian oil supply.
Indian Oil Corp (IOC) IOC, the country’s top refiner, has bought 7 million barrels of spot Middle Eastern and African crude oil via tenders, including a rare purchase of Abu Dhabi’s Murban, as U.S. sanctions are expected to hit supplies from Russia, trade sources said on Friday.
Totsa, the trading unit of French major TotalEnergies TTE, sold the 2-million-barrel Murban crude cargo to IOC on a delivered basis, the sources said.
The cargo was sold at a premium of at least about $5 a barrel above Dubai quotes when converted to a free-on-board basis, one of the sources said.
Other Indian state refiners are also expected to issue tenders for spot purchases, he added.
Taiwan’s CPC also issued a tender seeking April-arrival sweet crude oil on Friday.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 35 cents to $5.07 a barrel, the highest since October 2022.
Vitol will deliver a March-loading Upper Zakum crude cargo to Idemitsu following the deals.
Unipec will deliver a March-loading Oman crude cargo to TotalEnergies following the deals.
NEWS
China’s oil refinery throughput in 2024 fell for the first time in more than two decades barring the pandemic-hit year of 2022, government data showed on Friday, as plants tempered operations in response to stagnant fuel demand and depressed margins.
Global diesel prices and refining margins spiked following the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade on expectations the measures would tighten supplies, according to analysts and LSEG data.
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Thursday that the dollar should remain the world’s reserve currency, the Federal Reserve should stay independent and that he is ready to impose tougher sanctions on Russia’s oil sector.
Source: Reuters