Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Murban fell on Thursday as the U.S. relaxed sanctions on Venezuelan oil, freeing some supplies to the market that is stretched by the OPEC+ cuts.

Spot premium for Dubai crude dropped to its lowest level in one month, at $2.42 a barrel over the Dubai quotes.

The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 election — the most extensive rollback of Trump-era restrictions on Caracas.

Analysts estimated that Venezuela’s output could ramp up by some 200,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) in six months.

Before the sanctions were imposed, the country produced almost 3 million bpd of crude oil. The production then fell to just above 600,000 bpd in 2020 and gradually recovered to 824,000 bpd in September this year, according to Rystad Energy.

Qatar Energy raised the price for term cargoes of al-Shaheen crude oil loading in December to a one-year peak, trade sources said on Thursday, underpinned by the persistent OPEC+ production cuts and the escalation of Middle East tensions.

The December price was hiked to $3.25 a barrel above Dubai quotes, up from November’s $2.73 a barrel, reaching its highest level since December 2022.

ASIAN REFINERIES
Japan’s biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, has permanently shut down the 120,400 bpd crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Wakayama refinery in western Japan on Oct. 16 as planned, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

Japan’s Cosmo Oil, a unit of Cosmo Energy Holdings 5021.T, shut down the 75,000 bpd No.1 CDU at the Chiba refinery, near Tokyo, on Oct. 7 for planned maintenance, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

OSP
Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) of its Iranian Light crude oil grade for Asian buyers at $3.85 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average for November, an industry source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

The November price is up 35 cents from the previous month.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 53 cents to $2.42 a barrel.

ExxonMobil will deliver one December-loading al-Shaheen crude cargo to Gunvor following the trades.

NEWS
OPEC is not planning to hold an extraordinary meeting or take any immediate action after Iran’s foreign minister called on members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to impose an oil embargo and other sanctions on Israel, four sources from the producer group told Reuters.

U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories all fell by more than expected last week as refiners increased crude runs to meet strong domestic demand for distillate fuels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Angola expects to maintain its current crude oil production of 1.1 million bpd into next year, a senior executive at the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) said on Thursday.
Source: Reuters 
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