Crude MOC: Sour complex rangebound; eyes on OPEC+ meet

New York — Benchmark cash Dubai premium against Dubai futures rose while cash Oman premium slipped at the Asian close March 30 amid a slow moving physical market, while traders now eye the upcoming OPEC+ meet for fresh cues on supply.

S&P Global Platts assessed May cash Dubai at a premium of $1.26/b to the same-month Dubai futures at the 4.30pm Singapore close on March 30, up 10 cents/b from the close on March 29.

May cash Oman, on the other hand, fell to a premium of $1.26/b to same-month Dubai futures, down 20 cents/b from close on the previous day.

As end-user requirements for May-loading cargoes have been mostly covered in Asia, market participants are looking forward to the OPEC+ meeting on April 1 to form expectations of trading patterns for the month ahead.

"OPEC+ cuts will likely rollover, based on excess supply in the Atlantic Basin. There are a lot of West African grades available, and Mediterranean grades are also available at a good discount," said a trader with an Indian refinery.

Most market participants have echoed a similar expectation for the production policy of OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia in May, with some adding that fragility in demand recovery adds further impetus to keep production cuts steady.

However, the alliance has surprised markets before, and may do so once again, sources said.

The Platts Market on Close assessment process saw a total of four May Dubai partials of 25,000-barrels traded.

The Dubai were traded with Vitol and Reliance on the sell side and PetroChina on the buy side.

Reliance declared a cargo of May Oman crude to PetroChina following the convergence of 20 partials in Platts cash Dubai.