Middle East crude oil for sale to Asia was little changed as refiners assessed the impact of Formosa Petrochemical Corp. shutting its refinery and awaited official prices from Saudi Arabia. Murban, produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., remained at a discount of 8 cents a barrel to its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Qatar Marine was at a discount of 8 cents a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Formosa shut its 540,000 barrel-a-day Mailiao, Taiwan, plant after a fire on July 30 damaged power cables. The company is asking other Asian refiners to take delivery of crude supplies it can’t process, adding to expectations that the market may suffer from an excess of supply this month. Oman crude for October remained at a discount of about 40 cents a barrel to the price of Dubai, said two refinery officials who participate in the market. There may be some support for Middle East oil as the Formosa shutdown boosts regional processing profits, spurring other plants to increase output, said the officials. Gasoil’s premium to Dubai, a measure of profit, was up 47 cents today to $19.37 a barrel, compared with $18.03 a week ago, data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a London-based broker, show. Oman crude for immediate loading dropped for a second day by 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $110.82 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai oil for delivery in October fell 0.9 percent to $109.41. Murban decreased 0.8 percent to $113.71. Oman futures for October delivery declined 49 cents to $110.06 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 5 p.m. Singapore time, with 1,253 contracts traded. The settlement price was $109.86 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai. The September Brent-Dubai EFS narrowed 21 cents to $5.74 a barrel, according to PVM data. The exchange for swaps for October dropped 19 cents to $5.22. Saudi Prices Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s biggest crude exporter, may cut the premium for September exports of its Light oil grade to Asia amid a slump in demand among refiners. Arab Light may decline by 40 cents from its current premium of $1.35 a barrel to the average of the benchmark Oman and Dubai prices, according to the median of five responses in a Bloomberg News survey of Asian refiners and analysts. Arab Extra Light may fall about 20 cents a barrel, according to the survey. Arab Heavy, the country’s densest grade, may drop 95 cents and Arab Medium may slump 90 cents. Saudi Arabian Oil, known as Saudi Aramco, may lower rates as the price of swaps of Middle East benchmark grade Dubai for prompt delivery have slipped to a discount to later dated forwards, a market situation known as contango. Any reduction may be limited because of gains in refinery profits from processing fuel oil into gasoil, known as the black-white spread. To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net.

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