Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Murban ticked down on Friday as trades winded down toward the end of the month.

Spot premiums for Oman and Murban were down 15 cents and 4 cents, respectively, to $0.95 and $1.39 a barrel over Dubai quotes.

The spread between Brent- and Dubai-pegged oil widened to $1.48 a barrel from $1.2 in the previous day as geopolitical risks heightened in the Red Sea.

Australian mining giant BHP Group said on Thursday that the Red Sea disruptions are forcing some of its freight service providers to take alternative routes, such as Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

But market participants and analysts said the Red Sea conflicts have limited impacts on crude oil flows and prices.

“Without material disruptions to actual oil production, or a wider escalation of attacks to more vital oil transport routes in the region, we do not expect a strong upside to our USD80/bbl Brent price assumption for 2024, as there is material OPEC+ spare capacity,” said analysts from Fitch Ratings in a note.

Meanwhile, the markets were gauging the impacts of China’s latest slew of stimulus policies on its economic recovery and oil demand.

Many provinces in China including the financial hub of Shanghai have set modest 2024 economic growth targets after missing their previous goals, in a sign that a nationwide recovery to pre-pandemic levels would yet again prove elusive this year.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps was unchanged at $1.04 per barrel.

NEWS

Russia’s 2023 oil and gas condensate production declined by less than 1% to 530 million metric tons (10.6 million barrels per day), Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told the energy ministry’s in-house magazine.

Asian refiners are pinning their 2024 jet fuel demand hopes on continued air travel recovery from China and Southeast Asia, with supply movements to be driven by output from a spate of new Middle East capacity, traders and analysts said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)