Middle Eastern crude benchmarks, including Oman, Dubai, and Murban, experienced a continued fall in prices amid subdued spot trades. Oman crude's spot premium flipped to a discount of 78 cents a barrel against Dubai quotes, down from the previous day's premium of $1.05. The volatility in Oman crude prices at the month-end is attributed to low liquidity as traders seek to cover outstanding positions before the expiration of DME futures contracts. OPEC+ talks on 2024 oil policy are challenging, increasing the likelihood of a rollover of the previous agreement rather than deeper production cuts. Concerns over near-term supply tightness heightened due to a severe storm in the Black Sea region, disrupting up to 2 million barrels per day of oil exports from Kazakhstan and Russia. Meanwhile, China's Yulong Petrochemical secured 300,000 metric tons of crude oil import quotas for 2023. Russia increased daily crude oil processing, and U.S. stockpile estimates indicate a decline in crude oil inventories while gasoline and distillate inventories are expected to gain.

SOURCE: GOOGLE