BLBG:Dubai Oil Rises to Three-Year High; SK Sells to Mercuria, Shell
Dubai (PGCRDUBA) crude rose for a fourth day to the highest price since August 2008.
The Middle East benchmark increased 61 cents to $122.01, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. That is the highest since Aug. 4, 2008. The rise comes as South Korea’s SK Innovation Co. (096770) sold 175,000 barrels of Dubai crude in the Platts pricing window, bringing its total sales in February to 925,000 barrels, according to a survey of traders who monitor the market.
SK sold seven 25,000 barrel Dubai partial cargoes. Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) bought three for $122.50 a barrel each. Mercuria Energy Trading SA paid $122.50 for two and $122.55 for a third. Vitol Group purchased one for $122.40 a barrel.
Dubai crude’s backwardation, when the price for prompt deliveries is greater than for later shipments, rose 2 cents. Swaps for March were $1.92 cents a barrel more than in May, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a London-based broker. The price difference, known as a timespread, has more than doubled since the start of the month, a sign of stronger short-term refiner demand for oil.
The April Brent-Dubai (PVMMDBSP) exchange for swaps, which measures the European benchmark contract against the Persian Gulf grade, fell 5 cents to $3.72 a barrel, the third day of declines, according to PVM data. The May contract was down 4 cents to $3.67.
Oman futures for April fell rose 84 cents to $122.56 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 6:53 p.m. Singapore time, with 1,490 contracts traded. The settlement price was $123.13 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ramsey Al-Rikabi in Singapore at ralrikabi@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net
