Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban rose for a third straight sessions as high freight rates for long-distance oil hauling prompted refiners to look for regional crude.

Spot premium for light sour Murban jumped to $1.17 a barrel over the Dubai quotes, a level last seen in late November.

The market is closely watching the allocation plan for February-loading Saudi crude to Asia after the world’s top oil exporter announced its biggest oil price cut in 13 months.

But some market participants do not expect Asian refiners to significantly increase the demand for Saudi oil as it remains more expensive than other regional supplies.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 19 cents to $0.91 per barrel.

NEWS
Oil and fuel tanker traffic in the Red Sea was stable in December, even though many container ships have rerouted due to attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militants, a Reuters analysis of vessel tracking data showed.

China’s crude oil production rose to 208 million metric tons in 2023, equivalent to 4.16 million barrels per day, state broadcaster CCTV said on Tuesday.
U.S. crude stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while distillate and gasoline inventories likely rose, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.

Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery could begin test runs as early as this week after receiving a sixth crude cargo on Monday, company officials said, finally bringing the 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) plant to life after years of construction delays.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Sonia Cheema)