Middle Eastern benchmarks plunged on Thursday despite affirmations from a slew of OPEC+ countries on the voluntary cut commitments as China’s slowing crude purchases and mixed economic data raised concerns over oil demand in the coming months.
Spot premiums for Oman and Dubai crude fell to $0.16 and $0.26 a barrel over the Dubai quotes from $0.73 and $0.66 the prior day, respectively.
China’s crude oil imports in November fell 9.2% year-on-year, customs data showed, in the first annual decline since April as high inventory levels, weak economic indicators and slowing orders from independent refiners weakened demand.
Chinese refiners, both state-owned and independent, have since October lowered their operational rates due to thin margins and tepid fuel demand.
OSP
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has set the January official selling price (OSP) of its benchmark Murban crude at $83.32 per barrel, it said on Wednesday, down from a December OSP of $91.00.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 40 cents to $0.26 per barrel.
NEWS
Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has assigned loading windows this month to two vessels bound for India under crude spot deals with Italy’s ENI ENI.MI and U.S.-based Chevron CVX.N, an internal company document showed.
Russia has pledged to disclose more data about the volume of its fuel refining and exports after OPEC+ asked Moscow for more transparency on classified fuel shipments from the many export points across the vast country, sources at OPEC+ and ship-tracking firms told Reuters.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week with production dropping for the first time since July, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose as refiners ramped up output, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Sohini Goswami)