SINGAPORE: Cash Dubai and Oman in the Middle East crude market remained supported by Shell's purchases on the window on Thursday, while traders eyed monthly prices from Saudi Arabia.
Chinaoil will deliver an Upper Zakum cargo to Shell after the sale of 20 Dubai partials, said a trader.
Qatar has cut Marine crude's January OSP differential to Dubai by 33 cents a barrel to minus $2.32 a barrel. It raised the OSP differential for Land crude to Dubai by 37 cents, in line with the spot premium fetched for a March-loading cargo last month.
April-loading Marine crude may start trading at a premium after the price cut, a trader said. A second trader said Marine crude could become more attractive than Upper Zakum.
Saudi Aramco could release its March prices later on Thursday.
The world's top oil exporter is expected to cut prices for most of the crude it sells to Asia in March in line with a weak Dubai market, trade sources said.
Four of the six traders who took part in a Reuters survey expected Arab Light's OSP to fall by about $1 in March, while the other two forecast price cuts of just over $2 a barrel.
Traders are also expecting smaller price cuts for Arab Extra Light and Heavy as naphtha and fuel oil cracks rebounded from last month, boosting demand for these grades in Asia.
In Abu Dhabi, Das crude output has risen slightly by 6,000 barrels per day as a consortium made up of ADNOC, BP, Total and Inpex has started production from the offshore Nasr oilfield.
TENDERS
Tasweeq offered deodorised field condensate and low sulphur condensate for April loading in a monthly tender to close on Feb. 17 with bids valid until a day later.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for April settled at $52.17, down $3.33, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at $1.26 a barrel below Dubai swaps against a discount of $1.24 a barrel in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
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The supply of North Sea crude that underpins the Brent benchmark will average 910,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, according to loading programmes provided by trade sources.
The chief executive and other senior management at Brazil's Petrobras resigned on Wednesday amid a festering corruption scandal, setting off a scramble to find replacements capable of restoring investor confidence in the state-run oil company.
Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook group, owner of the world's biggest jewellery company, is making an unlikely foray into China's oil trading business, according to several traders recruited by the group.
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