CRUDE MOC: Strong buy-sell interest during Platts MOC; 3 convergences declared

The Platts Market on Close assessment process saw healthy buy-sell activity Jan. 28 and three convergence cargoes were also declared.

A total 62 Dubai partials were traded during the MOC process Jan. 28.

The partials were traded with Extap, Hengli and Unipec on the sell side and TotalEnergies, BP and Glencore on the buy side.

This brought the total number of Dubai partials traded in January so far to 251, along with two Oman partials also traded during the month.

Three convergence cargoes were also declared during the MOC process Jan. 28.

Hengli sold a cargo of March Upper Zakum crude to TotalEnergies following the convergence of 20 partials in Platts cash Dubai.

Meanwhile, Unipec declared two cargoes of March Oman crude to TotalEnergies following the convergence of 20 partials in Platts cash Dubai.

A convergence occurs when 20 partials are traded between two counterparties, resulting in a full, 500,000-barrel physical cargo being declared from the seller to the buyer.

The sour crude complex was largely stable at the Asian market close.

S&P Global Platts assessed March cash Dubai versus same-month Dubai futures at a premium of $2.38/b, up 3 cents/b from the previous day, while March cash Oman was also assessed at a premium of $2.28/b at close Jan. 28, dropping 52 cents/b from the previous day.

While trade for March-loading crude approaches completion, the sentiment in the Middle East crude market remained bullish for the upcoming April-loading cycle, sources said.

Demand for next month could continue to remain robust, a trader with a South Asian refinery said.

"Demand is strong and supply-side concerns are there and omicron impact is nothing really," the trader said.