RTRS:Middle East Crude-April Murban steady, traders eye ADNOC OSPs
SINGAPORE, March 5 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude benchmark Murban
was steady on Monday, with most traders not expecting to deal until the official
selling prices (OSPs) for Abu Dhabi was announced.
Abu Dhabi's Murban was valued at a premium of about 5-7 cents a barrel,
about 2 cents over levels from the previous session, traders said.
"Nothing is being transacted at the moment until we see all the OSPs," a
trader said.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, raised the price of its
flagship Arab Light crude oil for customers in Asia, who buy more than half its
crude exports, by $1.25 a barrel for April. Saud Aramco, set the Arab Light
price for Asian buyers at Oman/Dubai average plus $2.80 per barrel for April, up
from $1.55 for March.
The hike in prices was likely supported by firmer naphtha cracks, which have
been strengthening over the past week, with levels on Monday pegged at a
discount of $6.31 versus a discount of $7.23 on Friday's Asia close.
Naphtha prices have been supported by tight supply in North Asia.
* MARKET NEWS
- Iran's biggest Indian oil client, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals
Ltd (MRPL), plans to cut its annual import deal with Tehran by as much
as 44 percent to 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2012/13, two sources said, as
Western sanctions make trade more difficult.
- A key segment of Enbridge Inc's oil pipeline system in the U.S.
Midwest will remain shut down for up to four more days after a deadly vehicle
accident in Illinois caused an oil leak and fire, likely squeezing supplies for
refiners in the region, the company said on Sunday .
- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao cut his nation's 2012 growth target to an
eight-year low of 7.5 percent and made boosting consumer demand the year's first
priority as Beijing looks to wean the economy off its reliance on external
demand and foreign capital.
CRUDE Price Prev Change %
change
MAY Oman diff to Dubai 3.52 3.52 0.00
APRIL Brent 123.49 125.26 -1.77 -1.41%
MAY Dubai 118.25 119.49 -1.24 -1.04%
May DME Oman 121.77 123.01 -1.24 -1.01%
APRIL Brent/Dubai EFS 4.20 4.69 -0.49
