Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai were little changed on Thursday as traders eyed results of QatarEnergy tenders for price direction.
Oman’s energy ministry sold 2 million barrels of Omani crude for December loading via a tender to BP at $3.50 a barrel below its official selling price (OSP), traders said. The prompt oil sale comes after it delayed the restart of the Sohar refinery, they added.
ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE
PV Oil offered a total of seven crude cargoes for loading in February, a trader said, more than usual as a local refinery will be shut for maintenance in March and April.
These include one cargo each of Ruby, Chim Sao, SVDN, Nam Con Son condensate and Bunga Orkid and two cargoes of Su Tu Den.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s discount to swaps was unchanged at 45 cents a barrel. Reliance sold two partials to Vitol at $74.40 a barrel.
NEWS
Oil investors will usher in 2024 with gnawing concerns about oversupply, slowing economic growth and simmering Middle East tension that could spark price volatility.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday raised its global oil demand growth forecast for next year despite an expected economic slowdown, citing an improvement in the outlook for the United States and lower oil prices.
OPEC said on Wednesday it remained cautiously optimistic about 2024 oil market fundamentals and blamed “exaggerated concerns” about demand for a recent drop in prices, as it stuck to its relatively high 2024 oil use prediction.
U.S. crude inventories declined by more than expected last week as refiners took advantage of cheaper local barrels, while fuel stockpiles rose, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Australia’s Woodside Energy and rival Santos are unlikely to announce any agreement on a proposed $52 billion tie-up to create a global oil and gas giant until at least February, said a person with direct knowledge of the talks.
A tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast was fired on by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday, the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)