CRUDE MOC: Cash Dubai strengthens; market eyes Saudi term allocations

Benchmark cash Dubai crude's premium to Dubai futures rose Sept. 10, while spot trading activity remained muted as end-users awaited issuance of term cargo allocations by Saudi Aramco.

November cash Dubai was assessed at a $1.62/b premium against same-month Dubai futures, up by 10.5 cents/b from the 4:30 pm (0830 GMT) Singapore close Sept. 9.

November cash Oman was assessed at a premium of $1.67/b against same-month Dubai futures on Sept. 10, up 1 cent/b from close on Sept. 9, S&P Global Platts data showed.

Spot trading in the Middle East sour crude market remained tepid as end-users eyed allocations of term nominations by key supplier Saudi Aramco before beginning procurement, they said.

"[The] view [on the market] is very mixed...[US crude grade] Mars disruption continues long, on the other hand term OSPs are cheap and buyers are going to incremental," said a crude oil trader.

Loading disruptions for Mars crude from the USGC due to Hurricane Ida have caused delays in shipment of the crude to Asia, supporting sentiment for the sour crude complex in the Middle East, traders said.

However, slashed official selling prices from key Middle East producers, including Saudi Aramco, could lead to some spot demand being diverted to term cargo nominations, they said.

Term cargo allocations by Saudi Aramco are expected to be issued early next week, which should kick off spot trading activity for November-loading cargoes.

Platts Market on Close assessment process on Sept. 10 saw 15 trades for November Dubai partials.

The partials were traded Vitol, Mitsui, Reliance and Equinor on the sell side and BP, Glencore and Trafigura on the buy side.

This brings the total number of partials traded in September so far to 96, all for November Dubai partials.