SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai rose for a fifth consecutive session on Friday, tracking gains across global crude benchmarks amid signs of supply shortages.
Oil production at Kazakhstan's top field Tengiz was reduced on Thursday, its operator Chevron said, as some contractors disrupted train lines in support of protests taking place across the central Asian country.
The increase in OPEC's oil output in December has again undershot the rise planned under a deal with allies, a Reuters survey found on Thursday, highlighting capacity constraints that are limiting supply as global demand recovers from the pandemic.
The Middle East crudes were also supported by a widening of Brent-Dubai spread which may also restrict arbitrage supplies from the Atlantic Basin.
Brent's premium to Dubai swaps widened to $3.70 a barrel on Friday, the widest since late-November.
A wider price spread makes Dubai-linked grades from the Middle East and Russia more attractive to Asian buyers than those from the Atlantic Basin.
(Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh, editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) ((roslan.khasawneh@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: roslan.khasawneh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
