Asian differentials for March Middle East crude oil faced downward pressure on Tuesday amid a surge in Western benchmarks and high official selling prices (OSPs) from Middle East producers, traders said.
Traders said differentials have not been changing as most players have yet to start trading March lifting cargoes, but high prices are likely to diminish demand for March lifting spot cargoes.
"Crude demand will likely taper off from this month with winter waning, so demand for spot cargoes will be hampered if prices (of crude oil) rises," said a trader at Japanese refiner.
NYMEX February crude oil ended up 3.9 percent at $33.78 a barrel overnight on speculative fund buying as the new year's first cold snap sweeping the US Midwest was forecast to move into the Northeast later this week.
In London, IPE February Brent crude rose on the forecasts of colder US weather, settling up 5.4 percent at $30.89 a barrel.
Middle East producers have raised their OSPs. Qatar, the latest to do so, set its OSP for Qatar Land at $29.53 a barrel for December from $29.07 in November, and Qatar Marine at $29.08 a barrel from $29.02 the previous month.
Traders at major South Korean refiners still do not plan to delay their buying of physical barrels, but some said they could do so if the prices remain high.
"We are cautiously looking at the prices to see whether this would be short-lived or last for a long time," said one trader at a leading South Korean refiner.
"We may delay buying of needed barrels if things do not get better anytime soon," he added.
The Brent/Dubai Exchange for Swaps (EFS) for February was priced at $1.95/$2.10 per barrel, up from Monday's level of $1.86/$1.92 per barrel.
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