Middle East Crude-Benchmarks rise as oversupply worries ease

SINGAPORE, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban advanced on Wednesday, underpinned by active spot trades and easing concerns about supply glut as U.S. crude output is expected to grow at a slower pace.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Tuesday cut its forecast for domestic oil growth in 2024 by 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 170,000 bpd, sharply lower than last year's output increase of 1.02 million bpd.

The agency also forecasted monthly production in the U.S. will not exceed the record set last December until February 2025.

U.S. crude oil exports to Asia tumbled to 1 million barrels per day in January, the lowest in over two years as high freight rates and more competitively-priced Middle Eastern oils slashed shipments.

The arbitrage window for U.S. crude in Asia remains shut this month as freight costs continued to be elevated by the geopolitical factors. Meanwhile, oil producers in the Middle East held their official selling prices (OSPs) steady to ensure market shares, which would encourage refiners to request full term volumes for March cargoes.

S&P Global Platts' Dubai partials saw another busy trading session on Wednesday, resulting in three convergences, as traders rushed to seal deals ahead of a week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose 13 cents to $0.88 per barrel.

Unipec will delivery two April-loading Oman crude cargoes to PetroChina and one Oman cargo to Mitsui following the trades.

Seller-Buyer	Price
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
CHEVRON-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.54
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
GUNVOR-MITSUI	78.50
TOTAL-MITSUI	78.50
GUNVOR-MITSUI	78.47
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
PHILLIPS 66-MITSUI	78.49
GUNVOR-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
KOCH-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
CHEVRON-PETROCHINA	78.50
KOCH-TRAFIGURA	78.49
GUNVOR-MITSUI	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
PHILLIPS 66-MITSUI	78.49
CHEVRON-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
KOCH-MITSUI	78.50
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-MITSUI	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.50
VITOL-PETROCHINA	78.55
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
EXXONMOBIL-EQUINOR	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
KOCH-EQUINOR	78.55
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
TOTAL-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-EQUINOR	78.45
TOTAL-PETROCHINA	78.50
TOTAL-KOCH	78.35
EXXONMOBIL-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
VITOL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
GUNVOR-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.51
VITOL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
GUNVOR-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-EQUINOR	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-TRAFIGURA	78.49
VITOL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
RELIANCE-TRAFIGURA	78.49
HENGLI-MITSUI	78.55
TOTAL-MITSUI	78.55
VITOL-MITSUI	78.51
RELIANCE-MITSUI	78.55
EXXONMOBIL-PETROCHINA	78.51
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
PHILLIPS 66-MITSUI	78.59
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
UNIPEC-MITSUI	78.50
VITOL-MITSUI	78.51
UNIPEC-PETROCHINA	78.50
EXXONMOBIL-MITSUI	78.51

PRICES ($/BBL)

	CURRENT	PREV SESSION
DME OMAN	78.48	77.99
DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI	0.86	0.74
CASH DUBAI	78.50	78.00

NEWS

Russia's crude oil exports from its western ports in February have been revised up from previous estimates as Rosneft boosts exports amid an outage at the Tuapse refinery, market sources citing loading schedules said on Tuesday.

Delays in oil product deliveries due to ships being diverted to avoid attacks in the Red Sea are impacting product markets in Europe in particular, an International Energy Agency executive said on Wednesday.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco is in investment discussions with companies in India, a senior executive said on Wednesday.

India is expected to be the largest driver of global oil demand growth between 2023 and 2030, narrowly taking the lead from top importer China, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

Brent	BRENTSGMc1
Dubai	DUBSGSWMc2
DME Oman	OQc1
Brent/Dubai EFS	DUB-EFS-1M

PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack	FO180SGCKMc1
Gasoil crack	GOSGCKMc1
Naphtha crack	NAF-SIN-CRK
Complex refining margins	REF/MARGIN1

(Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

((muyu.xu@thomsonreuters.com; +65 9829 1075;))

RECENT CRUDE OIL TRADES:
Asia ACRU/T  Europe CRU/T Americas CRU/TU

CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tenders in Asia                       CRU/TENDA
Crude oil supply outages in Asia                CRU/OUT-ASIA-O
Refinery outages in Asia                        REF/OUT-ASIA-O
Global arbitrage news and flows                 O/CRUDEARB
W.African crude imports to Asia,  monthly       O/WAFRICA1

REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES
Asia REF/A   Middle East REF/ME   Europe REF/E

NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA
Japan     METI/JP1   China   O/CHINA1
India     O/INDIA2   S.Korea O/KOREA1
Indonesia O/INDO1-CRU

CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA
Japan O/JAPAN1  US EIA/S  Europe O/EUROIL1

CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS
OPEC output survey OPEC/O          New Africa fields    AFR/NEW
New projects       ENERGY/NEW      New Americas  fields AM/NEW

CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS
Middle East             CRU/MAsia-Pacific         CRU/AP
West Africa             CRU/WAF  North Sea            CRU/E
Asia outlook            ASIA/CRU Europe outlook       EUR/CRU
Global futures report   O/R      Technicals report    O/I

PRICES
For all Official Selling  Prices       OSP/O
For a POLL on oil  prices              O/POLL
NYMEX and ICE oil  futures             OILOIL
TOCOM crude oil  futures               0#JCO:
Dubai, Oman swaps and  spread          ASIA/SWAP/CRUDE
Middle East physical crude diffs       CRUDE/ASIA2
Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps  CRUDE/ASIA1
Asia-Pacific physical crude            CRUDE/ASIA3
All Asian crude oil  differentials     0#C-DIF-A
All Asian crude oil outright  prices   0#C-A

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