Middle East crude benchmarks rose on Friday with DME Oman’s premium posting a more significant jump than cash Dubai.
DME Oman’s premium to swaps rose 31 cents to $1.67 a barrel while cash Dubai’s premium was at $1.09, up 11 cents.
Exxon Mobil offered September-loading Upper Zakum cargo at 15 cents a barrel below its official selling price (OSP) while Shell placed a bid at a discount of 30 cents a barrel.
GS Caltex maintained its offer for a September-loading Murban cargo at 25 cents a barrel below its OSP.
SAUDI: Saudi Aramco has set the August official selling price (OSP) for Arab Light crude for sale to Asia at $2.45 a barrel above Oman-Dubai quotes, 25 cents lower than the previous month.
The price cut was smaller than the 30-50 cents a barrel forecast by refiners in a Reuters survey.
The producer also cut the August OSPs for Arab Extra Light crude and Arab Medium crude by 55 cents and 20 cents, respectively.
It raised the August OSP for Arab Heavy by 10 cents, against expectations of a price cut of at least 15 cents, likely due to strong demand for heavy oil in the absence of Iranian supplies.
ASIA PACIFIC: Indonesia has set the official Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) for Minas crude oil at $61.84 a barrel for June, down $7.21 from the previous month, a document from the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources showed.
The June Minas alpha, or price difference to dated Brent, was set at minus $2.26 per barrel, down 19 cents from a month ago, the document showed.
Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS) condensate exports will drop to three cargoes in Sept due to maintenance activities in third quarter, trade sources said.
