SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude market held steady on Thursday with trade for January cargoes mostly done at higher differentials than the previous month amid strong refinery demand.
Iraq's Basra Heavy was traded at a premium, as the grade's official selling price (OSP) was considered attractive despite State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) raising it by 50 cents a barrel this month.
An Indian and a South Korean refiner bought a cargo each of December-loading Basra Heavy at 15-20 cents a barrel above its official selling price (OSP), traders said. The identities of the sellers and buyers were unknown.
Basra Light weakened slightly from earlier this month, after an Indian refiner bought a December cargo at 6-9 cents a barrel above its OSP, traders said. The grade was earlier this month traded at a premium of 15-16 cents a barrel.
Exports from Iraq's southern terminals averaged 3.05 million bpd in the first 24 days of this month, up from 2.70 million bpd in October, according to loading data and an industry source.
If sustained, that would beat the existing monthly record high of 3.064 million bpd reached in July.
Tasweeq sold low-sulphur condensate (LSC) to an unnamed buyer in South Korea at $2.10-$2.30 a barrel above Dubai quotes, a trader said.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for January settled at $40.82, down 22 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at $1.96 a barrel below Dubai swaps, down from a discount of $1.89 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
OPEC is determined to keep pumping oil vigorously despite the resulting financial strain even on the policy's chief architect, Saudi Arabia, alarming weaker members who fear prices may slump further towards $20.
China's commercial crude oil stocks at the end of October fell 4.4 percent from the previous month in their biggest drop since at least 2010, and refined fuel stocks were down 8.5 percent, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.
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