SINGAPORE: Cash Dubai and Oman prices went in opposite directions in the Middle East crude market on Friday, narrowing the gap between the two benchmarks at the end of the trading month.
Cash Oman cooled from $70.90 a barrel at the start of trading to $70.60 a barrel at the end, traders said. Unipec will deliver an Oman cargo to Chinaoil after selling 36 partials in the Platts window on Friday, they said.
Cash Dubai strengthened after 37 Dubai partials were traded on the window as the grade's discount to Dubai swaps narrowed about 38 cents to $1.10 a barrel.
Most January physical cargoes have sold at improved differentials from the previous month despite OPEC's pledge on Thursday to keep output unchanged.
Saudi Arabia blocked calls from poorer members of the exporter group for output cuts to arrest a slide in global prices, sending benchmark crude to a fresh four-year low.
Asian imports of Iranian crude fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) for a second time this year to a one-year low due to seasonal demand fluctuations, although the shipments were still up nearly a third from October last year.
The four buyers together took in 877,888 bpd of the Islamic republic's crude last month, down 19.1 percent from the month before, government and tanker-tracking data shows.
- DME OMAN
DME Oman for January settled at $70.47, down $3.74, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at 47 cents a barrel above Dubai swaps against a premium of 43 cents in the previous session.
The official selling price (OSP) for Oman crude in January will drop by $8.72 to $78.24 a barrel, the lowest since November 2010, Reuters calculations based on data from the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) showed on Friday.
- TENDER
More details emerged for Surgutneftegas' ESPO tender. ExxonMobil bought the Jan. 16-20 cargo at $2.10 a barrel above Dubai quotes and Itochu purchased the Jan. 21-25 cargo, likely on behalf of SK Energy, at a premium of $2.05-$2.10 a barrel, traders said.
Petro-Diamond bought the Jan. 25-29 cargo on behalf of a Japanese refiner at $2.15-$2.25 a barrel above Dubai quotes and the last cargo for Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 loading went to Lukoil at $2.20 a barrel.
- MARKET NEWS
Rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) on key Asian routes could nudge higher amid a flurry of new cargoes and tighter tonnage supply.
Libya's parallel government will take legal action against oil buyers bypassing state oil firm National Oil Corporation (NOC).
Plunging world oil prices have dealt an economic blow to Africa greater than Ebola, hitting investment in exploration and plans to industrialise.
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