Middle East Crude-Benchmarks climb; China sees record-high crude oil imports in 2023

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban advanced on Friday, supported by the prospects of fuel demand resurgence in China as the country re-opens from COVID-19 restrictions. China is expected to import a record amount of crude oil in 2023 due to increased demand for fuel as people travel more following the dismantling of COVID-19 curbs, and as a result of new refineries coming onstream, analysts said.


Meanwhile, Qatar Energy set the term price for April al-Shaheen crude at a premium of about $2.58 a barrel above Dubai quotes, up from $1.37 a barrel in the previous month, trading sources said on Friday. OPEC Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the current OPEC+ deal on oil output would be locked in until the end of the year, adding he remained cautious on Chinese demand forecasts. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS Cash Dubai's premium to swaps gained 29 cents to $2.29 a barrel.


Koch will deliver one April-loading Upper Zakum cargo to Mercuria following the trade. Vitol and Total will also each delivery one Upper Zakum cargo for the same month to PetroChina, while Exxonmobil will deliver one April-loading al-Shaheen cargo to PetroChina. Seller-Buyer Price VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 KOCH-MERCURIA 82.10 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.20 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.05 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.20 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 82.10 TOTAL-TRAFIGURA 82.05 RELIANCE-GUNVOR 82.00 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.10 BP-PETROCHINA 82.20 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 82.20 MITSUI-PETROCHINA 82.20 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.20 UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 MITSUI-PETROCHINA 82.20 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.20 UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 MITSUI-PETROCHINA 82.20 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-TRAFIGURA 82.10 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.10 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 82.05 UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 82.20 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.10 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 BP-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 BP-PETROCHINA 82.20 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 82.15 MITSUI-TRAFIGURA 82.10 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.15 RELIANCE-GUNVOR 82.05 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.20 MITSUI-MERCURIA 82.15 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.15 MITSUI-TRAFIGURA 82.10 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 HENGLI-MERCURIA 82.15 BP-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.20 HENGLI-MERCURIA 82.15 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.15 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 BP-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-MERCURIA 82.15 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.20 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.24 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 82.15 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.24 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.24 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.24 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.24 TOTAL-PETROCHINA 82.24 MITSUI-MERCURIA 82.20


PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 82.22 84.15 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI 2.27 2.14 CASH DUBAI 82.24 84.01 ASIAN REFINERIES Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co has shut the 150,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Hokkaido refinery in northern Japan on Feb. 14 due to system trouble, a company spokesperson said on Friday. NEWS Russian oil producers expect to maintain current volumes of crude oil exports, despite the Russian government's plan to cut oil output in March, the Vedomosti newspaper said on Friday, citing sources familiar with companies' plans. Russia's decision to cut crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day reflects its inability to sell all of its oil, Ben Harris, a U.S. Treasury Department Assistant Secretary, said on Thursday. China's oil refining capacity overtook the United States as the world's largest in 2022, an industry official said on Thursday, though its production of fuel products lagged the United States due to low utilisation rates. Kazakhstan's Kazmunaygas still plans to export oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in February, Kazakhstan's energy ministry said on Thursday. For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below. Brent Dubai DME Oman Brent/Dubai EFS PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack Gasoil crack Naphtha crack Complex refining margins (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)


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