Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman eased slightly on Wednesday after spiking the previous day, while spot window trade remained largely thin.

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 8 cents at $2.65 a barrel, while Oman’s premium dipped 4 cents to $2.58 a barrel.

The Brent’s Exchange Futures for Swaps (EFS) to Dubai narrowed on Wednesday after rallying to a six-month high the previous day.

November EFS was pegged at a premium of $2.10 a barrel at the Asia close on Wednesday, compared with $2.74 a barrel on Tuesday, based on LSEG data.

Benchmark oil futures contracts Brent and WTI also retreated on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, with investors uncertain when peak rates will be hit and how much of an impact it will have on energy demand.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 8 cents to $2.65 a barrel.

NEWS

Russian mid-sized oil producer Russneft expects its oil production to decline 5% to 6.4 million metric tons (128,000 bpd) this year amid exports cuts, the company’s chief executive officer Evgeny Tolochek said on Wednesday

India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp wants to eventually receive a share of crude from a Russian project it partly owns, but is willing to wait because Russian oil is hard to ship right now, said the head of ONGC’s overseas investment arm, ONGC Videsh.

Indonesia on Wednesday offered three exploration oil and gas blocks in its third round of auctions this year amid efforts to replenish reserves, an energy ministry official said.

Mexico’s Hokchi Energy has opened a dispute resolution procedure against state-run firm Pemex as it looks to recover some $190 million owed by the heavily indebted oil giant to Hokchi, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)