Middle East Oils Fall as Producers Raise Official Selling Prices

Middle East crude oils fell as producers raised their official prices, increasing concern that demand may decline.

Qatar Land for June loading dropped 7 cents to a premium of 1 cent a barrel to its official selling price for May loading, Bloomberg data showed. Murban, produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., fell 9 cents to a premium of 11 cents a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Abu Dhabi National Oil raised the official selling prices of its crude oil exports in March, the company said in an e- mailed statement today. Murban crude, the emirate’s largest export grade, was increased 8.6 percent to $112.55 a barrel, the company, known as Adnoc, said. That’s the highest since the August 2008 price of $117.50. Lower Zakum crude rose to the same level and Umm Shaif oil climbed to $112.05 a barrel. Upper Zakum increased 8.4 percent to $108.90 a barrel.

The majority of Adnoc’s oil yields a large amount of gasoil, or diesel fuel, after basic processing. Gasoil’s premium to Dubai crude, a measure of refining profit, jumped to $23.39 a barrel today.

Traders judge the value of Murban against the price of Dubai published by oil pricing service Platts. That has climbed to $108.71 a barrel, putting Murban at a premium of $3.84 over the benchmark grade.

Oman oil for immediate loading increased $1.49, or 1.3 percent, to $112.62 a barrel today, according to Bloomberg data. Dubai for loading in June was up 1.3 percent at $112.19 and Murban crude climbed 1.2 percent to $115.66.

Oman futures for June delivery rose 56 cents to $113.06 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 7:10 p.m. Singapore time, with 791 contracts traded. The settlement price was set at $112.99 a barrel at 12:30 p.m. Dubai time.

The Brent-Dubai exchange for swaps for May widened 25 cents to $7.28 a barrel, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a brokerage. The exchange for swaps for June increased 22 cents to $7.04.

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-04/middle-east-oils-fall-as-producers-raise-official-selling-prices.html)