Benchmark Dubai crude future spreads were largely unchanged in mid-morning trading hours in Asia Thursday, with market participants awaiting more prices from producers in the Persian Gulf for the September trading cycle.
September cash Dubai crude was valued at 74 cents/b premium to front-month September Dubai futures as of 10:00 am in Singapore Thursday (0200 GMT), up a notch from 71.5 cents/b assessed at the close of trading in Asia Wednesday.
Crude traders will be on the lookout for official selling prices this week from the likes of Saudi Aramco, Kuwait Petroleum, Qatar and other producers in the region.
UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company emerged earlier this week with June OSPs for its four crude grades -- Murban, Umm Lulu, Das Blend and Upper Zakum. ADNOC prices its crudes retroactively, in the month following their scheduled loading from the emirate.
Sour crude market participants expect a softer month with autumn maintenance beckoning.
Despite a recent meeting in Vienna where OPEC members and ten other allied oil producing nations agreed to extend their 1.2 million b/d production cuts for nine months, oil prices in Asia have retained a softer outlook for this quarter.
Several of OPEC's largest oil producing nations have crude oil that is closely linked in quality and pricing to medium sour Dubai crude.
The backwardation in Dubai spreads is often used as a proxy of physical spot market demand for the wider Persian Gulf crude spectrum.
The Platts Market on Close assessment process in Asia for sour crude saw several offers for ADNOC's light sour Murban grade on Wednesday, with price differentials to the Murban OSP going as low as discounts of 23 cents/b at the close at 4:30 pm in Singapore.
Platts assessed Murban at $62.28/b, or at a discount of 25 cents/b versus its OSP, and at a premium of $2.35/b to September Dubai futures.
