Middle East Crude Oil Premiums Climb as Diesel Supplies Shrink
November 11, 2011, 5:32 AM ESTBy Christian Schmollinger
Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Premiums for Middle East crude gained after a decline in Asian middle-distillate supplies pushed refining cracks to the highest level in three months.
Qatar Marine for January loading climbed 25 cents to a premium of 30 cents a barrel over its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Upper Zakum, produced in Abu Dhabi, rose 21 cents to a premium of 26 cents.
Demand may be rising for Middle East crude rich in middle distillates as stockpiles of the fuel decline. Singapore’s onshore inventories of diesel and kerosene dropped to the lowest since July 2008 in the week ending Nov. 9, according to data from the island city-state’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. That helped push diesel’s premium to Dubai crude to $20.53 a barrel today, the highest level since August, data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd. show.
Oman crude for immediate loading rose $1.04, or 0.9 percent, to $111.29 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai for loading in January climbed 0.7 percent to $110.33. Murban crude gained 0.7 percent to $114.92 a barrel.
Oman futures for January delivery rose 93 cents to $111.98 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 4:48 p.m. Singapore time with 1,077 contracts traded. The settlement price was $111.83 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai.
The December Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps, which measures the European marker contract against the Persian Gulf grade, widened 30 cents to $5.05 a barrel, according to data from PVM. The exchange for swaps for January climbed 6 cents to $4.72.
--Editors: Alexander Kwiatkowski, John Chacko
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
