Middle East Crude-Benchmarks mixed, Brent/Dubai spread narrows

SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Middle Eastern crude benchmarks were mixed on Tuesday, with Murban rising for the third day and Oman and Dubai edging down, as the spread between Brent- and Dubai-linked grades narrowed. The spread was pegged at $3.30 a barrel, a level last seen in 13 months. A narrower spread would give incentives for Asian buyers to take more arbitrage cargoes, adding pressures to regional sour crude. Spot premiums of the Middle Eastern benchmarks firmed up this month amid the prospect of a stronger Chinese demand in the upcoming months. China's Unipec, a trading arm of Sinopec, this month purchased at least 17 cargoes of Upper Zakum alongside other middle eastern grades such as Qatar Marine from the spot market. It also kept steady purchase of U.S. crude of about 8 million barrels, most sour grades, traders said. OSP Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) of its Iranian Light crude oil grade for Asian buyers at $2 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average for March, 20 cents higher from the previous month, an industry source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 72 cents to $1.53 a barrel.

Reliance will deliver one April-loading Upper Zakum cargo to Mercuria following the trade. Phillips 66 will also deliver an April-loading Upper Zakum cargo to PetroChina. Seller-Buyer Price PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.25 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.25 BP-PETROCHINA 82.25 TOTAL-TRAFIGURA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.25 BP-PETROCHINA 82.25 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.20 PHILLIPS 66-TRAFIGURA 82.15 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.15 PHILLIPS 66-GUNVOR 82.00 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.15 VITOL-PETROCHINA 82.15 MITSUI-PETROCHINA 82.10 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.09 BP-PETROCHINA 82.08 EXXONMOBIL-TRAFIGURA 82.05 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.05 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 82.01 HENGLI-GUNVOR 82.00 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 82.01 EXXONMOBIL-TRAFIGURA 82.00 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.00 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 82.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 82.00 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 81.96 BP-PETROCHINA 81.99 RELIANCE-MERCURIA 81.96 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 81.97 MITSUI-TRAFIGURA 81.95 HENGLI-GUNVOR 81.95 MITSUI-MERCURIA 81.90 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 81.97 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 81.97 PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 82.25 82.64 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI 1.81 2.49 CASH DUBAI 81.97 82.40 ASIAN REFINERIES South Korean refiner GS Caltex plans to shut one of its four crude distillation units (CDUs) for maintenance in March, several sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. NEWS A 500,000 barrel-per-day cut to Russian oil production announced this month will apply only to March output for now, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday, according to news agency reports. China doubled its purchases of Urals oil in the first half of February compared to the same period of January amid more attractive pricing and as Chinese demand rebounds after COVID-related lockdowns, according to traders and Refinitiv Eikon data. India's crude imports rose to a six-month-high in January, government data showed on Monday, as refiners in the world's third-biggest oil importer and consumer snapped up cheaper Russian supply. 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 Maju Samuel)

Asia Europe Americas CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tenders in Asia Crude oil supply outages in Asia Refinery outages in Asia Global arbitrage news and flows W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES
Asia Middle East Europe NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA
Japan China India S.Korea Indonesia CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA
Japan US Europe CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS
OPEC output survey New Africa fields New projects New Americas fields CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS
Middle East Asia-Pacific West Africa North Sea Asia outlook Europe outlook Global futures report Technicals report PRICES
For all Official Selling Prices For a POLL on oil prices NYMEX and ICE oil futures TOCOM crude oil futures Dubai, Oman swaps and spread Middle East physical crude diffs Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps Asia-Pacific physical crude All Asian crude oil differentials All Asian crude oil outright prices ))

Reuters

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

off-the-wire

Middle East Crude-Benchmarks mixed, Brent/Dubai spread narrows

By Reuters

Reuters

Reuters

Solid price gains for gold, silver after busy news weekend

‘Biggest economic shift since Nixon’: Major U.S. monetary policy changes coming in 12-36 months – Jack Mallers

India joins South Africa in denying BRICS currency plans after Trump’s 100% tariff threat

Gold is never going back to $2,000: 'That's history,' prices to 3x from here – Peter Schiff

CPI, ECB rate decision could be the catalyst gold needs, with $2,708 the key resistance – StoneX’s Razaqzada