SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai were little changed on Friday, while Russian Sokol's premium jumped nearly $2 to a multi-month high.
Saudi Aramco has notified at least six Asian buyers that it will supply full contractual volumes of crude oil in March, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
OSPs
Iraq has raised the March official selling price (OSP) for Basra Medium crude to Asia to plus $1.30 a barrel to the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, up 80 cents from the previous month, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Basra Heavy to Asia in the same month was priced at minus $1.80 a barrel to Oman/Dubai quotes, up 95 cents.
RUSSIA CRUDE
India's top explorer ONGC Videsh has sold a cargo of Russian Sokol crude for April loading at a multi-month high premium, trade sources said.
Spot premiums for Middle East and Russian grades were expected to rise for April-loading barrels this month as Brent-linked grades have become more expensive.
The 700,000-barrel cargo loading on April 2-8 was sold at a premium of about $7.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes likely to European trader Gunvor, they said, nearly a $2 jump from the previous month.
This is likely the highest premium seen in three months, Reuters data showed.
ONGC has offered a second cargo for April 19-25 loading in a tender to close on Feb. 15.
TENDERS
IOC bought 1 million barrels Murban crude from Shell via a tender for April arrival in addition to Nemba from Chevron and Qua Iboe from ExxonMobil, traders said.
NEWS
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could help to calm volatile oil markets if they pumped more crude, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday.
South Korean authorities have ordered workers off one of petrochemical company Yeochun NCC's (YNCC) naphtha crackers in the city of Yeosu after a blast killed four people and injured four.
Glencore moved the head of its crude oil desk Maxim Kolupaev to manage its liquefied natural gas (LNG) division, three traders aware of the move told Reuters on Friday.
Iranian oil exports have risen to more than 1 million barrels per day for the first time in almost three years, based on estimates from companies that track the flows, reflecting increased shipments to China.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
