Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Murban ticked down on Wednesday as traders concludeddeals for March-loading cargoes while waiting for major oil producers to reveal the official selling prices (OSPs) for April.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia may raise the price for its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia in March, after a drastic cut in the previous month, as the market structure improved amid heightened geopolitical risks.
The state oil giant said on Tuesday it would cut its planned maximum sustainable oil production capacity to 12 million barrels a day, down from 13 million barrels per day.
Saudi Arabia’s surprise reversal of its oil expansion plan was at least six months in the making and spurred by uncertainty over the market’s need for additional spare capacity, an industry source told Reuters on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that current oil prices adequately reflect current market situation, while global oil demand is widely seen rising by around 2 million barrels per day.
OSP
The official selling price (OSP) for Oman crude in March will rise by $1.54 to $78.75 a barrel, Reuters calculations based on data from the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) showed on Wednesday.
The March Oman OSP is the average of daily Oman settlements at 0830 GMT in Jan for the front month contract 1OQc1.
The Dubai crude OSP, set at a $0.10 per barrel premium to DME Oman, was calculated at $78.85 a barrel for March.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 34 cents to $1.04 per barrel.
A total of six convergences were made in January, comprising three al-Shaheen crude cargoes, two Oman crude cargoes and one Upper Zakum crude cargo.
NEWS
Chevron CVX.N is sending cargoes of Kazakhstan’s CPC Blend oil to Asia around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than via the Red Sea to avoid the risk of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis, according to three industry sources and LSEG ship-tracking data.
The United States is seeking to buy about 3 million barrels of U.S.-produced sour crude for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for delivery in June, Department of Energy documents showed on Tuesday.
A reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil and gas sectors would hurt the OPEC country’s ability to collect cash from its oil exports, crimp new energy investments and raise the risks of domestic fuel scarcity, analysts and executives said.
Japan’s reliance on crude oil supplied from the Middle East has increased by 1 percentage point to 95.1% last year, data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)