ME crude: May Murban offers decline

Middle East crude values softened on Tuesday, with offers for Abu Dhabi’s Murban crude weighed down by poor refining margins in Asia. Sentiment has also been hit by news of rising crude exports from Saudi Arabia and Libya adding to global supply and offsetting fears of a supply disruption from Iran.  Offers for May-lifting Murban was heard at around 25-30 cents a barrel above official selling prices (OSP), down from deals done last week at a premium 30-40 cents, traders said. The weakness was also felt in Oman crude futures traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, with the front-month contract falling further below a premium of $3.00 a barrel to Dubai quotes by 0830 GMT. Qatar’s Tasweeq closed its tender to sell deodorised field condensate and low sulphur condensate for May on Monday, with bids valid till on Thursday. The DFC cargoes were heard to have been awarded at around $1.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, down from around $1.80-$2.00 in the previous tender, a trader said, although this could not be confirmed. Shell bought 11 Dubai partials for May from Unipec and ChinaOil at $123.15-$123.45 a barrel.