SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude oil benchmarks Dubai and Oman firmed on Monday after Chinaoil resumed purchases.
The trading arm of PetroChina bought four Dubai partials from Unipec and Reliance at $31.40 a barrel, or $1.53 a barrel below Dubai swaps, up 30 cents from the previous session.
DME Oman's differential to Dubai also rose by more than 20 cents from Friday.
Spot Basra crude differentials remained in premiums on limited supply.
Taiwanese refiner Formosa Petrochemicals bought 2 million barrels of Basra Light for February from Shell at a premium of about 30 cents a barrel to its official selling price (OSP) on a cost-and-freight basis.
More details of Tasweeq's condensate tender emerged. A Japanese end user bought the cargo at about $6.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes.
Crude supply is expected to remain abundant next year with the rise of production in Iran and possibly Libya.
Iran has agreed to consider Indian demands for steep oil price discounts and other buying incentives, sources said, as it works to rebuild market share in a world awash with crude.
"Oil markets have begun to focus on the increasing possibility that Iran may get sanctions relief as early as next month, which means even more supply could hit the market," Societe Generale's Mike Wittner said in a note.
Iran was expected to pump an additional 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) once sanctions are lifted while a UN agreement may bring more Libyan crude back to the market.
"Another 400-600 kb/d out of Libya in conjunction with 500+ kb/d from Iran and slower demand could delay any rebalancing (let alone recovery) until well into 2017," Morgan Stanley analysts led by Adam Longson said in a note.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for February settled at $31.38, down 87 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at $1.55 a barrel below Dubai swaps, up from a discount of $1.78 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
Iraq's southern oil exports have been running at 3.45 million barrels per day (bpd) so far in December and could reach a monthly record by the end of the year, according to Basim Abdul Kareem, deputy chief for operations and production at the state-run South Oil Company (SOC).
Maintenance work taking place at loading terminals in Iraq's key southern oil hub of Basra is leading to some shipment delays, a trade source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
OPEC will stick to its decision on Dec. 4 to maintain a policy of not limiting production, despite the drop in global prices, Iraq's oil minister said on Sunday, adding that any output reduction aimed at boosting prices would have to be coordinated with non-members.
Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in October rose by 253,000 barrels per day from September to 7.364 million bpd, official data showed on Sunday.
Nigerian state oil firm NNPC will award new crude for oil products swap agreements to Total, Varo Energy, Cepsa and ENI, the head of its crude marketing unit said on Friday.
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