Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban rose on Thursday, aided by a widening spread between Brent- and Dubai-linked oil, as the production disruption in Libya tightens oil supply in the west of Suez the market.

Local protests have forced a full shutdown of production at Libya’s Sharara oilfield, which can produce up to 300,000 barrels per day, two engineers told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Brent/Dubai spread, or EFS, is pegged at $0.78 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $0.38 a barrel in the previous session.

A wider Brent/Dubai EFS makes hauling oil from the Atlantic Basin to Asia less economical and supports the demand for regional oil.

OSP

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has set the February official selling price (OSP) of its benchmark Murban crude at $77.69 per barrel, it said on Thursday, down from a January OSP of $83.32.

Its Umm Lulu crude premium is set at $0.25 a barrel over Murban price in February, while discounts for Das and Upper Zakum are set at $0.70 a barrel and $0.20 a barrel, respectively, against Murban price.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps gained 24 cents to $0.56 per barrel.

NEWS

OPEC said on Wednesday cooperation and dialogue within the wider OPEC+ producer alliance will continue after OPEC member Angola last month said it would quit and that it plans a Feb. 1 meeting to review the implementation of its latest oil output cut.

Venezuela’s oil exports increased 12% last year to almost 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) as the United States eased sanctions imposed since 2019 on the OPEC country’s energy sector, according to data and documents viewed by Reuters.

Trans Mountain Corp plans to begin line fill in March or May on its long-delayed Canadian oil pipeline expansion, depending on the diameter of the pipe it uses and assuming no new problems, the Canadian government-owned company said in a filing on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Sohini Goswami)