Front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps widened mid-morning June 28, amid tepid spot activity as market participants shift their focus to the trading cycle for September-loading cargoes.
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Register NowThe August Brent/Dubai EFS was pegged at $4.07/b at 11 am (0300GMT) in Singapore June 28, up 8 cents/b from the previous trading day, S&P Global Platts data showed.
The Brent/Dubai EFS is a key indicator of the spread between light, sweet and heavy, sour crudes, and a wider EFS makes crude priced against Dubai more economically attractive for Asian refiners compared to Brent-linked ones.
Last week, the front-month EFS eased below the $4/b mark after hitting an over 1.5-year high of $4.09/b on June 22 at Asian close, which was the highest since Sept 17, 2019 when it was assessed at a premium of $4.16/b.
This comes amid thinning trades for August-loading sour crude cargoes, as most Asian refineries no longer have outstanding demand requirements, sources said.
"Market has gone quiet, nothing much happening, even in the previous week. Now focusing on OPEC meeting, OSPs and term nominations before September-loading cargo trades begin," said a crude oil trader based in Singapore.
Market participants are eagerly awaiting OPEC's production quota for August, which are expected to be decided in an upcoming meeting on July 1, for fresh cues on supply-side fundamentals.
At mid-morning in Singapore, the August/September Dubai time spread was pegged at 77 cents/b, up 3 cents/b from close on June 25, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the September/October Dubai time spread was pegged at 64 cents/b, also up 2 cents/b from the previous day.