SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai fell on Thursday to their lowest level since March 2019 as the coronavirus outbreak slowed economic activity and hurt demand.

An OPEC+ technical committee may reach consensus on Thursday on the need to further cut oil output by at least 500,000 barrels per day in response to the virus outbreak's impact on energy demand and global economic growth, two sources told Reuters. 

Saudi Arabia has cut the March official selling price (OSP) for its Arab Light grade for Asian customers by 80 cents a barrel, setting it at a premium of $2.90 versus the Oman/Dubai average, state oil company Saudi Aramco said on Wednesday. 

ONGC has offered 2.9-3.0 million barrels of UAE's Das crude for delivery over April-September in a spot tender closing on Feb. 12 with bids valid till Feb. 13.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE:

PV Oil closed a spot tender on Thursday selling 400,000 barrels of Vietnam's Dai Hung crude loading April 1-7.

It has offered 300,000 barrels of Vietnam's Chim Sao crude loading April 9-13 in a spot tender closing on Feb. 12 with bids valid till Feb. 18.

 

WINDOW

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 19 cents to 48 cents a barrel.

Unipec offered Oman crude at $55.25 a barrel but did not attract any buyers. Seller-Buyer Price Shell-Lukoil 55.20 Koch-Gunvor 55.20

 

NEWS

China said on Thursday it plans to halve additional tariffs levied against 1,717 U.S. goods last year, following the signing of a Phase 1 deal that brought a truce to a bruising trade war between the world's two largest economies. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2A61K6

U.S. crude stocks rose in the most recent week, while gasoline and distillate inventories fell, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

Climate protesters forced BP to temporarily shut down its London headquarters on Wednesday, the first day in office for the oil and gas company's new CEO Bernard Looney.

The coronavirus outbreak, which has killed more than 500 people in China since the start of the year, could have a significant impact on oil demand in the next two months, French major Total's CEO said on Thursday. 

(Reporting By Shu Zhang; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) ((shu.zhang@thomsonreuters.com; +65-6870-3549; Reuters Messaging: Twitter @shuzhang4))