Middle East Crude-Benchmarks nudge higher on firm demand

Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Oman edged up on Friday, ending the week on a firm note following robust sales of sour grades.

Asian refiners snapped up spot cargoes this week as they prepare to ramp up operations in June after maintenance to meet peak summer demand.

May-loading Upper Zakum crude cargoes have been sold at premiums of $1.40-$1.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said.

Light sour grades have also been traded. One source said Murban and Umm Lulu traded at premiums of about $2 a barrel, while Das traded at a $1.30 premium.

QatarEnergy slightly raised the May term price for al-Shaheen crude after selling two cargoes via its monthly tender, the sources said.

The term price for May-loading cargoes was set at $1.47 a barrel above Dubai quotes, compared to $1.40 in the previous month, they said.

One of the May-loading cargoes was sold to Petronas at $1.50-$1.60 a barrel above Dubai quoteswhile the other went to Unipec at a premium of $1.20-$1.30 a barrel, the sources said.

RUSSIAN CRUDE

The oil tanker NS Century, which is under sanction by the United States, arrived at the Chinese port of Qingdao late on Thursday to discharge its cargo of Russian crude oil, LSEG shipping data showed.

The Russian-flagged tanker, operated by Russian shipping group Sovcomflot’s (SCF) FLOT.MM Dubai-based subsidiary SCF MGMT, is carrying about 700,000 barrels of Russian Sokol crude.

It is the fourth U.S.-sanctioned tanker to dock at Chinese ports this month to clear a backlog of Russian Sokol crude stored on ships.

However, the previous ships – Liteyny Prospect, Krymsk and Nellis – had docked during temporary waivers of sanctions from U.S. measures related to the Ukraine war.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 5 cents to $1.38 a barrel.

REFINERY

Vietnam’s Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will continue selling refined products from its Dung Quat refinery during a 50-day maintenance period at the facility, the company said on Friday.

NEWS

The International Energy Agency on Thursday raised its view on 2024 oil demand growth for a fourth time since November as Houthi attacks disrupt Red Sea shipping, though it remains far less bullish than producer group OPEC.

Near-term global oil and liquids production growth will be driven primarily by the U.S., Guyana, Canada, and Brazil, offsetting voluntary production cuts by OPEC+, the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) forecast on Thursday.

Russia’s seaborne oil product exports fell 1.5% in February from the previous month to 9.943 million metric tons due to unplanned maintenance at refineries, data from industry sources and Reuters calculations showed.

The U.S. is seeking to buy 3 million barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), as one storage site winds down maintenance that had tempered the pace of replenishing the stockpile, the U.S. Energy Department said on Thursday.

Fortescue FMG.AX has conducted the world’s first ammonia marine bunker operation in the port of Singapore, the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) and the Australian mining company said on Friday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Varun H K)