March-loading crude cargoes sold in Asia are fetching higher premiums on stronger refining margins and the possibility of storing excess cargoes on tankers for later sale.
Russian ESPO crude premiums rose to the highest in seven months after Surgutneftegaz sold four cargoes in a tender.
The producer sold four cargoes via a tender at premiums between $2.70 and $3.30 a barrel to Dubai quotes, they said.
BP bought two of the cargoes while Shell and a trader, likely Vitol, purchased one each, traders said.
The deals for the cargoes loading on March 14-18, 21-25, 24-28 and 27-31, could not be independently verified.
But analysts at Barclays and Credit Suisse slashed their 2015 forecasts for Brent to $44 and $58 a barrel, respectively, citing weak fundamentals.
The United States is gradually increasing exports. Pipeline company Enterprise Products Partners LP agreed annual contracts with at least two major trading companies to sell the light crude, trade sources said.
It has contracts with Petro-Diamond Singapore (PDS) and Vitol, for 1.2 million barrels of US condensate per month in 2015, according to trade sources, who declined to be named because of company policy.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for March settled at $47.60 a barrel at 0830 GMT, up $1.76. This puts DME Oman at a premium of $0.13 a barrel to Dubai swaps against a discount of $0.53 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
US export regulators are seeking more information from at least three would-be exporters of domestic condensate, including Marathon Oil, while half a dozen other firms have recently been cleared to sell the abundant ultra-light oil abroad, people familiar with the process told Reuters.
China's implied oil demand will grow 3 percent this year versus last year, the country's top energy group forecast, little changed from the pace of growth in 2014 as calculated by Reuters.
Saudi Aramco will renegotiate some contracts and postpone some projects due to falling oil prices, the head of Saudi Arabia's state oil company said on Tuesday, stressing the top crude exporter will not single handedly balance the global oil market.
Falling oil prices forced Iraq's cabinet on Tuesday to revise its draft 2015 budget, trimming its forecast for oil to $55 a barrel from $60.