SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude benchmark Dubai slumped on Friday to the widest discount in more than a month in the absence of buyers.
Cash Dubai's discount widened to $1.83 a barrel, down 82 cents from the previous session, after Chinaoil's offer of April partial met no buyers during the Platts MoC process.
Bids from Mercuria and Vitol were at $30.30 a barrel, industry sources said.
The sole deal concluded during Friday's window was that of SK Energy which sold a May Dubai partial to Mercuria at $31.70 a barrel.
Indian Oil Corp closed a tender on Thursday to buy sour crude for April loading, but results were not immediately known.
The refiner may be looking to buy Basra Light or Oman, a trader said.
Spot premiums for Iraqi grades remained firm on robust demand. Chinaoil bought March Basra Heavy at $1.10 a barrel above its OSP for delivery to South Korea, a trader said. The deal could not be independently verified.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for April settled at $31.94 a barrel, up $1.43, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at 29 cents a barrel below Dubai swaps, up from a discount of 30 cents in the previous session. The April price adjustment factor (PAF) was at minus $0.87.
MARKET NEWS
A potential deal between leading oil producers to freeze output should last for at least a year, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Congress on Thursday not to rush to renew the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA), a broad 2006 US law that imposed sanctions over Iran's nuclear and missile programs that expires at the end of the year.
Malaysian oil giant Petronas is expected to announce further spending cuts next week as it braces for earnings battered by the slump in crude prices that is also pressuring its global peers.
Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group expects to refinance its debt ahead of schedule, after reporting its first annual loss in nearly 20 years on Thursday, battered by a $1.2 billion writedown for weak coal prices.
Singapore Exchange Ltd (SGX) said it was in talks to buy the Baltic Exchange, the hub of the global shipping market, a purchase aimed at shoring up the Southeast Asian exchange operator's derivatives business.
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