Middle East Crude-Dubai edges up; Oman, Murban slip

Middle East crude benchmark Dubai edged higher on Wednesday, supported by a flurry of trades on the Platts window, but spot premiums for Oman and Murban nudged lower.

Spot trade was again muted after refiners IRPC and Formosa purchased cargoes via tenders on Tuesday.

ARBITRAGE

Indian state-run oil refiner Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS has signed a deal with BP BP.L to buy 1 million barrels per month of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for four months, trade sources said.

BPCL would start taking delivery of the oil from June, they said.

The Indian refiner has also separately bought 2 million barrels of WTI crude for loading in April via a spot tender, the sources said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 3 cents to $1.29 a barrel.

A total of 53 partials were traded between $86.45 and $86.51 a barrel. PetroChina will receive a May-loading Dubai cargo from Vitol and an Oman cargo from Total following the deals.

NEWS

Russia remained China’s top oil supplier in the first two months of this year, data showed on Wednesday, as Saudi supply cuts continued.

China’s imports from Russia, including supplies via pipelines and sea-borne shipments, rose 13% on the year to 17.72 million metric tons, or 2.16 million barrels per day (bpd) over the January and February period, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Line fill of Canada’s Trans Mountain crude oil pipeline expansion will be complete by the end of May, with the first waterborne exports from the expanded system starting a month later, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on Tuesday in an interview.

Exxon Mobil XOM.N will bring its Permian basin output up to 2 million barrels per day by 2027, while it also ramps up production in Guyana, Vice President of Global Exploration John Ardill said on Tuesday at a conference in Houston.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)