SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude market held steady on Friday amid subdued activity ahead of the Lunar New year.
In line with expectations, Saudi Arabia made relatively modest changes to its official selling prices (OSP) for Asian buyer in March, lowering the price differentials for light grades, while raising those for heavier grades.
Saudi Aramco cut its March official selling prices (OSP) for Arab Light and Arab Extra Light to Asia by 20 cents and 40 cents a barrel, respectively, against the Oman/Dubai average.
The differential for Arab Medium was raised by 10 cents a barrel and that of Arab Heavy by 70 cents. The gap between lighter and heavier grades narrowed due to an increase in the value of fuel oil relative to lighter oil products like gasoil during January.
April spot values of Russian Sokol crude were steady to slightly lower, after ONGC sold an April 9-15 cargo at $4.50-$5 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, traders said.
Complex refining margins in the Singapore hub averaged around $8 a barrel in the final quarter of 2015, up from around $6.30 in the previous quarter, and further improved to close to $10 in January.
"The strong margins were largely driven by multi-year low oil and petroleum product prices which motivated buyers to build inventory, coupled with strong seasonal demand for middle distillates," rating agency Moody's said in its quarterly oil and gas report.
"We expect the positive momentum to persist such that the Asian refining margin stays healthy at $7-$7.5 a barrel in 2016," it said.
No trades were seen in the Platts MoC process on Friday, with activity subdued ahead of the Lunar New Year.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.