RTRS:Middle East Crude-Murban continues to strengthen
SINGAPORE, March 15 (Reuters) - Middle East crude
values strengthened on Thursday as Asian refiners scrambled to
source alternative supplies to cover for disruptions in South
Sudan and cutbacks on Iranian imports.
ADNOC's Middle East benchmark Murban crude was valued at a
premium of about 30 cents a barrel, rising about 10 cents from
levels in the previous session.
Two Murban cargoes transacted at around a 30 cents a barrel
premium to the official selling price (OSP).
Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Co (FPCC) issued a tender to
buy May-lifting cargoes from the Middle East in anticipation of
the start up of two residue desulphurization units with a
capacity of around 80,000 bpd sometime in mid-April.
A person familiar with the operations at the refinery said
that the restart of these units, which have been offline since a
fire in 2010, would hinge on getting approval from the
government.
* MARKET NEWS
- Thailand's national oil company PTT Plc has
bought its first cargo of Colombia Castilla crude in a bid to
reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern imports as escalating
tensions between the West and Iran threaten supply, shipping and
trade sources said on Thursday.
- President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David
Cameron discussed the possibility of releasing emergency oil
reserves during a meeting on Wednesday, two sources familiar
with the talks said, the first sign that Obama is starting to
test global support for an effort to knock back near-record fuel
prices.
- A key Democrat has asked the head of the U.S. futures
regulator whether Iran was the source of a false rumor early
this month that sent global oil prices to their highest since
2008.
CRUDE Price Prev Change % change
MAY Oman diff to Dubai 3.23 2.61 0.62
MAY Brent 124.70 125.20 -0.50 -0.40%
MAY Dubai 120.82 121.21 -0.39 -0.32%
May DME Oman 124.05 123.82 0.23 0.19%
MAY Brent/Dubai EFS 3.88 3.99 -0.11
DUB-EFS-1M
