SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude market held steady on Friday, the last day of the month that saw Chinaoil buying a record volume of oil on the Platts window.
"The end of a historic month," a trader with a Western firm said.
Chinaoil snapped up 47 cargoes of Upper Zakum, Oman and Dubai in the window this month, traders said, a bull run which has strengthened Dubai and put Saudi Arabia in a dilemma.
The largest OPEC producer is expected to raise the December prices for most of the crude grades it sells to Asia when it notifies customers early next week. A hike would be in line with a strong Dubai market, but traders said that benchmark is not reflecting weak demand and poor refining margins in Asia.
"If the Saudis raise their OSP by just one cent, they would have undone what they did for the past two rounds of OSPs," a second trader with a Western firm said.
He expected the producer to cut prices especially after Banoco Arab Medium traded at $1 a barrel below its OSP.
"This isn't a normal market anymore so they don't have to behave the normal way of basing prices on refining margins or on Dubai window," he said.
Abu Dhabi and Qatar are expected to reduce OSP differentials to Dubai for most grades to reflect weak demand, traders said.
December spot differentials for Murban and Das have slumped to below 70 cents while Qatar Marine also dipped into the negative territory this month.
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