Middle Eastern benchmarks Dubai and Murban remained steady in a shortened trading session on Friday, as spot trades for the January-loading cycle just started to take off.

Singapore markets closed early on account of a public holiday on Monday.

The market still awaited Qatar Energy to issue its monthly tenders to sell al-Shaheen, Qatar Land and Qatar Marine crude.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps stayed unchanged at $1.51 a barrel.

NEWS

A broad easing of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry has forged marriages of convenience between global commodities traders and little-known middlemen that dominated its exports during the period of restrictions.

Russian fuel producers have been told by the government to prepare for the scrapping of all remaining restrictions on the export of diesel and gasoline, three industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras raised its projection for oil and gas production this year, after posting a 41.5% decrease in third-quarter profit on Thursday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)