DUBAI FUTURES: Intermonth spreads trade sideways on lack of fresh cues

Singapore — Intermonth spreads for benchmark Dubai crude futures were trading sideways in mid-morning Sept. 25 amid an absence of fresh cues, with most Asian buyers having wrapped up their purchasing requirements.

At 0300 GMT (11 am Singapore time), the October/November timespread was pegged at a contango of 19 cents/b, widening 1 cent/b from Sept. 24's Asian close.

The November/December timespread was pegged at a contango of 24 cents/b, narrowing 2 cents/b over the same period, Platts data showed.

Traders said that activity has more or less wrapped up into the week ending Sept. 25, with focus shifting onto the evaluation of the next round of official selling prices by Middle Eastern producers.

"Refining margins are bad, and on top of that, I guess most will not take more than required inventory into end of year," a sour crude trader based in Singapore said.

"Market outlook depends more on supply now, since demand continues to stay weak. It depends on OPEC+ compliance and whether less supply is released," the trader added.

Spot market differentials for most of the key sour crude grades were now at premiums of single digits versus their OSPs, trade sources said.

Meanwhile, the prompt-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps widened in negative territory mid-morning Sept. 25. The November EFS was pegged at minus 26 cents/b, widening 10 cents/b from Sept. 24's Asian close, Platts data showed.