SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude market remained depressed by excess supply and weak demand in Asia, with only the grades sold on the Platts window supported by Chinaoil, the trading arm of PetroChina.
Shell has again offered Murban at a discount of 40 cents a barrel to its official selling price (OSP) on the Platts window, but there were no buyers.
Unipec and Gunvor will deliver a cargo each of Oman and Upper Zakum respectively to Chinaoil following trades on the window. Chinaoil's robust demand has underpinned Oman and Dubai differentials this month.
December-loading cargoes were still available even though the trading month is drawing to a close, traders said.
"Products inventories are too high before winter," a trader said. "Demand (is) still poor in the region."
Sharp OSP cuts by Gulf producers have failed to revive Asia's demand for crude. Refiners chose to draw down crude inventories for year-end accounting purposes while lacklustre refining margins failed to boost incremental crude demand, traders said.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for December settled at $84.45 a barrel, down 5 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at 45 cents a barrel above Dubai swaps, up from a premium of 38 cents in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
Oil major BP's third-quarter results took a hit from declining oil prices and a sharp drop in income from Russia as Western sanctions on Moscow led to a slump in earnings from its local partner, Kremlin-controlled Rosneft.
Iraqi Kurdistan plans to increase the capacity of its oil pipeline via Turkey to 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) following upgrade work, industry sources and officials said.
OPEC is unlikely to lower its oil production ceiling when the group meets in November, a senior Iranian oil official said, in comments that reduced the likelihood of any collective OPEC action to support prices.
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