off-the-wire

Middle East Crude-Oman, Murban rise; Kuwait asks Asian refiners to take less crude

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
SINGAPORE, March 16 (Reuters) - Middle Eastern crude benchmarks Oman and Murban rose on Thursday as the market angst over a wide-range financial crisis eased and the prospect of solid demand in the region helped shore up the prices. Kuwait has asked some Asian refiners to take less oil under their annual deals as the OPEC producer hopes to start full-scale operations at its Al Zour refinery later this year, three refining sources familiar with the matter said. The reduction of Kuwait crude exports would prompt refiners to seek for alternative supplies from the market. Qatar Energy set the term price for May al-Shaheen crude at a premium of about $2.01 a barrel above Dubai quotes, down from about $2.58 a barrel in the previous month, trading sources said on Thursday. The term price was decided following the sale of four cargoes of May-loading al-Shaheen crude via tenders which closed this week. All four cargoes were likely sold to Total at a premium of about $2 a barrel over Dubai quotes, they said.


SINGAPORE CASH DEALS Cash Dubai's premium to swaps dipped 5 cents to $1.86 a barrel.


Unipec will deliver one May-loading al-Shaheen cargo to Total following the trade. Phillips 66 will deliver one May-loading Upper Zakum cargo to PetroChina. Seller-Buyer Price UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 73.75 UNIPEC-TOTAL 73.75 UNIPEC-TOTAL 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 73.95 BP-PETROCHINA 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 74.00 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 74.00 VITOL-PETROCHINA 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.00 BP-TOTAL 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 74.00 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 74.00 BP-TOTAL 74.00 VITOL-PETROCHINA 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 73.90 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 74.00 EXXONMOBIL-TOTAL 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 74.00 EXXONMOBIL-TOTAL 74.00 UNIPEC-TOTAL 74.00 BP-PETROCHINA 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.00 EXXONMOBIL-TOTAL 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-PETROCHINA 74.00 BP-PETROCHINA 74.00 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.00 UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 74.00 KOCH-PETROCHINA 74.05 RELIANCE-PETROCHINA 74.04 VITOL-PETROCHINA 74.05 EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA 74.05 BP-PETROCHINA 74.05 UNIPEC-PETROCHINA 74.05 KOCH-PETROCHINA 74.05 PHILLIPS 66-TOTAL 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-TOTAL 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-TOTAL 74.00 VITOL-PETROCHINA 74.00 PHILLIPS 66-TOTAL 73.99 PHILLIPS 66-TOTAL 73.98


PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 74.19 77.92 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI 2.07 1.99 CASH DUBAI 73.98 77.84


NEWS U.S. crude exports to China in March are headed for their highest in nearly two-and-half-years, spurred by a recovery in demand and competitive prices compared with Middle East supplies. Group of Seven countries want to keep the price cap on Russian crude at $60 a barrel, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Marine fuel sales at the world's third-largest bunkering hub of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates fell to record lows in February, based on the latest Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data, which started being published in 2021.


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