Backwardation in Dubai crude futures eases on release of stored barrels

Backwardation in the Dubai crude futures intermonth spreads narrowed in mid-morning trade in Asia June 22 after Middle East sour barrels were heard being sold out of floating storage for prompt loading.

At 11 am in Singapore (0300 GMT), the prompt July/August Dubai crude futures spread was pegged at 27 cents/b in backwardation, down 12 cents/b from the one-month high of 39 cents/b in backwardation assessed at the 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) close on June 19, S&P Global Platts data showed.

The August/September spread, which flipped into backwardation for the first time in the month on June 19, also eased from a backwardation of 10 cents/b assessed at the Asian close that day to be pegged at 5 cents/b in backwardation at 0300 GMT.

The intermonth spreads eased on talk that around 3 million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude could have been sold from floating storage tankers around Malaysia for July loading and be heading to India.

Offers for August-loading Murban crude have eased from premium levels earlier this month, with traded levels heard at around 50-80 cent/b discounts to the crude’s official selling price on an FOB basis last week.

The backwardation in Dubai futures was narrower despite expectations that OPEC+ crude oil production in July and August could fall by about 1 million b/d from May levels, based on compensation plans submitted by Iraq and Kazakhstan and loading schedules issued by Nigeria and Angola.

The OPEC+ alliances’ 9.7 million b/d production cuts are scheduled to ease back to 7.7 million b/d starting in August, though a monitoring committee plans to meet monthly to determine if any changes are needed. Its next meeting is slated for July 15.

Meanwhile, August Dubai futures were down 1% from the previous Asian close at $41.38/b mid-morning June 22. The August Brent/Dubai Exchange Futures for Swaps was pegged at 94 cents/b at 0300 GMT, largely steady from the assessment at 93 cents/b at the previous Asian close.
Source: Platts