SINGAPORE: The spread between Oman and Dubai widened in the Middle East crude market on Monday after several trades were concluded on the window.
Chinaoil sold three March Oman partials to Shell at $45.40-$45.45 a barrel, while Shell bought a partial from Vitol at $45.50. Dubai, on the other hand, was traded at $44, with Mercuria buying three partials from Unipec at that level.
Trade in the physical market slowed as most refiners have completed their purchases of March-loading cargoes. A jump in spot premiums last week may have deterred buyers from seeking more supply.
Asian buyers are paying more to secure crude, supported by higher refining margins on the back of tumbling crude prices and the possibility of storing excess cargoes on tankers for later sale.
*TENDERS
Rosneft offered four more ESPO cargoes loading on March 6-9, 9-12, 12-15 and 13-16 in a tender to close on Jan. 26, with bids valid until Jan. 29. It also re-issued a tender for a March 1-6 cargo.
The Russian producer sold a Feb. 28-March 5 cargo to JX at about $2.60 a barrel above Dubai quotes and a March 10-15 cargo to Unipec at a premium of $2.30-$2.40 a barrel.
Separately, JX also bought a cargo from Surgutneftegas via a tender at a premium of $2.65 for a March 10-15 cargo. The deals could not be independently verified.
Buyers for Russian Sokol crude in a Rosneft tender emerged. Glencore, Chinaoil and Statoil took a cargo each at premiums below $5 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said.
PRICES
DME Oman for March settled at $45.45 a barrel at 0830 GMT, down $1.01. This puts DME Oman at $1.19 a barrel below Dubai swaps against a discount of $1.56 in the previous session.
Brent's premium to Dubai crude fell to its lowest in more than three months, potentially widening an arbitrage window for Atlantic Basin crude to head to Asia, Reuters data showed on Monday.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for March was at $1.38 a barrel, down 5 cents from Friday's close and the narrowest since Oct. 14 last year.
REFINERY
Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co (ORPIC) began a planned 29-day maintenance at its Sohar refinery late on Sunday, the company's chief executive told Reuters.
MARKET NEWS
Saudi Arabia's new King Salman was quick to keep veteran oil minister Ali al-Naimi on Friday in a message aimed at calming a jittery energy market mindful of Naimi's powerful role within the OPEC group of oil-exporting countries.
Libya, struggling to reopen ports and oilfields hit by fighting, is producing 363,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and exporting around 200,000, the oil minister appointed by forces in control of the capital Tripoli said.
Europe's oil majors will strike a sober note in their fourth-quarter results and investors will focus on companies' plans to maintain cherished dividends and their strategies to cope with the oil prices collapse that caught many unawares.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.