Business | Oil & Gas
Dubai crude above three-year high on Iran supply concerns
Abu Dhabi's Murban rises to a 2 cent premium over official selling price
- Bloomberg
- Published: 00:00 February 24, 2012
Singapore: Dubai crude prices climbed to the highest in more than three years as buyers in Asia focused on the potential loss of Iranian oil supplies.
Dubai crude rose to $120.77 (Dh443.23) a barrel, the highest since August 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.
Abu Dhabi's Murban rose 20 cents to a 2 cent premium over its official selling price, the most since February 10, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
"In the current market environment, which is characterised by supply tightness anyway, any absence of Iranian crude from global markets is a reason for concern for oil consumers," analysts at JBC Energy GmbH in Vienna said yesterday in a note.
"Asian buyers of Iranian crude are scrambling to find alternative sources."
Dubai crude's backwardation, when the price for prompt deliveries is greater than for later shipments, widened by 15 cents. Swaps for March were $1.81 cents a barrel more than in May, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd, a London-based broker. The price difference, known as a timespread, has more than doubled since the start of the month, a sign of stronger refiner demand for prompt oil.
Discount
Lower Zakum, also produced by Abu Dhabi, increased 19 cents to 4 cents below its official selling price. That was the smallest discount in almost two weeks.
South Korea's SK Innovation Co sold three Dubai partial cargoes on Thursday, according to a survey of traders who monitor to Platts pricing window.
Vitol Group bought two at $120 and $120.10 a barrel, while Royal Dutch Shell Plc bought one at $120.10.
The April Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps, which measures the European benchmark contract against the Arabian Gulf grade, rose 20 cents to $4.50 a barrel, the highest since November 14, according to data from PVM. The May exchange fell 1 cent to $4.01.
Oman futures for April delivery rose 63 cents to $122.23 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 5.40pm Singapore time, with 1,503 contracts traded.
The settlement price was $121.30 at about noon in Dubai.
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