Middle East crude benchmarks jumped on Thursday, with those of Oman and Murban shooting to the highest in a month, after the the United States sanctioned top Russian oil producers.
U.S. hit major suppliers Rosneft and Lukoil with sanctions over the Ukraine war, sparking concerns over tighter supply of Russian oil, a major source for refiners in India and China.
Indian refiners and some Chinese companies are set to curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with new U.S. sanctions, sources said.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose $1.45 to $2.71 a barrel, a three-week high.
NEWS
The European Union has added two Chinese refiners with a combined capacity of 600,000 barrels per day and Chinaoil Hong Kong, a trading arm of PetroChina 601857, to its Russia sanctions list, the EU’s Official Journal showed on Thursday.
Several suppliers have cancelled sales of Middle Eastern and Canadian oil to China’s Yulong Petrochemical after the UK imposed sanctions on the refiner, which is likely to push it to buy more Russian crude, multiple sources familiar with the deals said.
Dealmaking in the U.S. upstream oil and gas sector slumped nearly 30% during the third quarter as persistently low oil prices kept buyers on the sidelines, analytics firm Enverus said on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters
