The May Brent futures has been strengthening throughout the start of the day well above the $82/bbl mark. At 10:30 (time of writing), the contract was seen trading at $82.68/bbl.
Contrary to market expectations of a potential rollover, Saudi Aramco has surprised the Asian market by increasing most of its official selling price (OSP) differentials for April-bound crude oil. Traders surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights on March 6 noted the unexpected move. Notably, the April OSP differential for Arab Light crude rose to a premium of $1.70/bbl to the Oman/Dubai average, marking a 20c/bbl increase from the previous month. All other Asia-bound grades experienced a hike ranging from 20c/bbl to 30c/bbl, except for Super Light.
The number of Dubai crude oil futures contracts traded on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange increased by 1.47% in February to reach 125,550 lots, as per the most recent TOCOM data. Nevertheless, the traded volume was 22.81% lower compared to the same month in the previous year, according to the provided data.
The largest Indian refiners are becoming increasingly cautious when contracting Russian crude oil. This is on the back of the US levying new sanctions against Russia last month. Out of the 500 targets of the new sanctions, Russian tanker operator Sovcomflot as well as more than a dozen of tankers have been included in the penalised. Indian refineries would be impacted by these sanctions as this could lead to heightened costs and reduced margins.
The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.82/bbl and $4.07/bbl respectively.
