SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai rose to fresh all-time highs on Monday on tight supplies, while jitters over disruption in Russian energy supplies amid the Ukraine crisis kept global oil markets in wide backwardation.

Brent's premium to Dubai quotes widened on Monday to $6.31 a barrel, edging closer to the 2013 high of $6.48 seen last week, keeping arbitrage windows to Asia closed.

Iraq's SOMO has offered 2 million barrels of Basra Medium crude for April loading in a tender to close on Feb. 24, traders said.

Prior to this, Basra Medium crude for March loading traded in a wide range from about 20 cents a barrel above its official selling price (OSP) in a purchase by a Thai refiner to a discount by a Chinese refiner, trade sources said.

There were limited Basra Heavy crude cargoes available in March, traders said, underpinning the crude's premiums at above $1 a barrel.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE

Japan's Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T has made an unusual purchase of Vietnamese low-sulphur crude loading in April that will be supplied to Japanese power plants, trade sources said on Monday. 

The trading house purchased 300,000 barrels of Chim Sao crude from state oil marketer PV Oil at about $7.50 a barrel above dated Brent, they said.

 

RUSSIA CRUDE

Russia's ESPO Blend crude oil ESPO-DUB exports from the Far East Kozmino port are set to rise to 8.6 million tonnes for the second quarter of 2022, from 8.4 million tonnes in the first quarter, according to two sources citing the quarterly schedule. 

 

REFINERY

Australia's biggest fuel supplier Ampol Ltd on Monday said its annual profit jumped 72% because of a turnaround at its Lytton Refinery operations, as fuel volumes recovered after the easing of travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. 

Viva Energy VEA.AX on Monday posted a full-year profit compared with a loss last year, as global demand for energy recovered from the lows of the pandemic and boosted refining margins. 

 

NEWS

OPEC+ should stick to its current agreement to add 400,000 barrels of oil per day each month to output, ministers of Arab oil-producing countries said on Sunday as they gathered in Saudi Arabia, rejecting calls to pump more to ease pressure on prices. 

OPEC+ will work to integrate Iran into its oil supply-limiting accord should an agreement be reached on reviving its nuclear deal with world powers, sources close to the group said, seeking to avoid market share competition that could hit prices. 

Saudi Arabia's crude oil production increased by 110,000 barrels per day month-on-month in December to 10.02 million bpd, official data showed on Sunday. 

Iranian lawmakers have laid out six conditions for the revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with global powers in a letter to President Ebrahim Raisi published on Sunday, the country's official IRNA news agency reported. 

Japan will consider a variety of options, including freeing up a trigger clause on gasoline tax, if crude oil prices continue to remain high in the future, a top government spokesperson said on Monday. 

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))