RTRS:Middle East Crude-Murban lower on poor distillate demand outlook
SINGAPORE, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Middle East benchmark
Murban crude prices remained weak on Wednesday as the outlook
for global demand for oil stayed sluggish.
The March loading Abu Dhabi crude grade was pegged at a
discount of about 12 cents, down 2 cents from Tuesday's
discussed levels.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) cut the December
retroactive selling price of its benchmark Murban crude
MUR-OSP by $2.55 per barrel to $111.80, the state firm
announced on Wednesday.
The November official selling price (OSP) for Murban was
$114.35/bbl.
* OMAN ASSESSMENTS
- March Oman traded on the DME fell 51 cents to a premium of
$1.39 to Dubai swap quotes at 0830 GMT, using the settlement
price for DME futures, the ICE one-minute marker for Singapore
and the Brent-Dubai EFS as calculated by Reuters.
*EFS
- Front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps
(EFS) for February DUB-EFS-1M rose 36 cents from Tuesday to
$4.30 a barrel.
* MARKET NEWS
- Exxon Mobil is in talks to sell most of its 50
percent stake in TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK back to its
Japanese refining partner and unload other assets in Japan in a
deal that could be worth as much as $5 billion, four sources
with knowledge of the matter said.
- Turkey's Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Wednesday
Turkish oil importer Tupras continues to buy oil from Iran
despite tough new U.S. sanctions on institutions that deal with
Iran's central bank.
- China on Wednesday restated its opposition to the U.S.-led
push for unilateral sanctions on Iran over Tehran's nuclear
programme and said the crisis should be resolved through
diplomacy, as Iran lashed out with threats against Washington.
* REFINERY MARGINS
- Complex processing margins for Dubai in Singapore were
around $6.84 per barrel, down from an average of the last five
days of $7.87, Reuters data show. Over the last year, the
average margin has been around $8.25 per barrel.
* CRACK SPREADS
- Fuel oil's February crack narrowed 45 cents to a discount
of $2.27 a barrel to Dubai crude.
- Gasoil's February crack eased 35 cents to a premium of
$19.24 a barrel to Dubai crude.
* OUTRIGHT PRICES
- February ICE Brent was at $112.28 a barrel at 0830
GMT, up 3.56 cents from Tuesday.
- March Oman rose $3.04 to settle at $109.37.
