SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmark Oman and Murban extended gains on Thursday to hit fresh all-time highs, while cash Dubai held steady.

Brent's premium to Dubai swaps a barrel hit a fresh 2013 high of $6.48 a barrel, traders said, up 37 cents from Wednesday.

The steep premiums within Europe are keeping Brent-linked supplies from Europe and Africa out of Asian buyers' reach, limiting their options to Middle East and Russian grades.

Strong demand for these grades pushed Middle East benchmark Dubai and spot premiums for Abu Dhabi's Murban and Qatari al-Shaheen crude to record levels this week, while Russian grades ESPO Blend and Sokol are at more than two-year highs.

Qatar Energy has sold al-Shaheen crude loading in April at an average of $4.44 a barrel above Dubai quotes, an all-time high, several trade sources said, a jump from $2.67 on average last month.

The producer subsequently set the April term price at a premium of $4.45 a barrel, they said.

Unipec bought two of the cargoes, the sources said. Buyers for the other two cargoes were not immediately known.

The cargoes are for loading on April 1-2, 21-22, 27-28 and 28-29.

Qatar Energy has also sold condensate for April loading at higher premiums. Low-sulphur condensate premiums were around $4.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes while premiums for deodorised field condensate were close to $5 a barrel, traders said.

Thailand's PTT bought another Upper Zakum cargo in its tender at a premium of just above $4 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said.

 

RUSSIA CRUDE

Spot premiums for Russian ESPO Blend crude extended gains on Thursday to fresh highs since December 2019 after producer Surgutneftegaz sold another three cargoes via a tender, trade sources said. 

The producer sold the cargoes at $7.20-$7.30 a barrel above Dubai quotes, they said.

Mitsui bought one of the cargoes, while Vitol purchased the rest, the sources said.

The cargoes are for loading on April 8-15, 11-18 and 15-22.

Surgut will close on Thursday a third tender for cargoes loading on April 18-25, 22-29 and 25-30.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE

PetroBrunei has sold its April-loading Kimanis crude at 70 cents a barrel above its official selling price (OSP) likely to Ampol, traders said.

NEWS

Asian refiners, traditionally big buyers of Iranian oil, are keen to resume imports from Iran if there is an agreement to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, which could pave the way for more supply on global markets and soften prices. 

Russia would be ready to re-route supplies to other markets should new Western sanctions target its energy sector, finance minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday. 

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) will seek damages from suppliers of gasoline with levels of methanol that were too high, its managing director has told a House of Representatives committee meeting. 

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose unexpectedly last week, even as inventories at the key Cushing hub dropped to their lowest level since 2018, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. 

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