Doha January 19 2023: Qatar Energy set the term price for March al-Shaheen crude prices at a premium of $1.37 a barrel above Dubai quotes, the lowest since June 2021, trading sources said on Thursday.
This was down from a premium of about $1.50 a barrel for February-loading cargoes.
The term price was decided after the sale of two cargoes of March-loading al-Shaheen crude via tenders which closed this week.
TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Vitol have likely bought the cargoes due to load on March 1 to 2 and March 26 to 27, the sources said.
The cut to al-Shaheen prices follows the decline of spot premiums for Middle Eastern crude this month, with a narrower spread between Brent and Dubai-linked grades and cheaper freight rates encouraging Asian buyers to seek to arbitrage cargoes.
Meanwhile, the increasing flow of Russian crude into Asia is adding to concerns about oversupply and placing pressure on regional oil prices.
