SINGAPORE- The Middle East crude benchmarks gave up gains from the past two sessions on Tuesday with cash Dubai's premium to swaps falling to near parity, the lowest since March.
DME Oman's premium to Dubai swaps fell by $0.35 to $0.51 a barrel, the lowest since August.
There was ample crude supplies while the complex refining margins for a typical Singapore refinery has fallen below $4 a barrel since Friday.
The price spread between Brent and Dubai also narrowed further, improving the arbitrage economics for crude produced in the Atlantic Basin and depressing demand for Middle East crude.
Brent's premium to Dubai swaps was at $1.07 per barrel, down 23 cents for January, the lowest in more than three months.
UAE: BP sold on Tuesday a cargo of Murban crude from Abu Dhabi at the widest discount in three months as ample supplies weighed on the oil, data from Japanese price reporting agency RIM and Reuters showed.
The 500,000-barrel cargo for loading in January was sold to Shell at 45 cents a barrel below the grade's official selling price (OSP) on RIM's trading platform.
This is the widest discount since trades for October-loading cargoes in August. [ACRU/T}
Total offered another January-loading cargo of Murban crude at $2 a barrel to Dubai quotes during Platts window but it didn't find a buyer. Total sold a cargo to Shell at the same level on Monday.
IRAQ: Iraq has set the December official selling price (OSP) for Basra Light crude to Asia to plus $0.60 a barrel against the average of Oman/Dubai quotes unchanged from the previous month, the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) said.
Basra Heavy to Asia in the same month was priced at minus $2.40 a barrel to Oman/Dubai quotes, SOMO said in an e-mailed statement.
NEWS
Electric vehicles and more efficient fuel technology will cut transportation demand for oil by 2040 more than previously expected, but the world may still face a supply crunch without enough investment in new production, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday OPEC and its allies agree that technical analysis shows a need to cut oil supply next year by around 1 million barrels per day (bpd) from October levels to balance the market.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he hoped there would be no oil output reductions, after Saudi Arabia said OPEC was considering cutting oil supply next year, citing softening demand.
Iran's armed forces will protect Iranian oil tankers against any threats, an Iranian military official said on Monday after the United States called the ships a "floating liability" and warned ports operators not to allow them to dock.
Vietsovpetro, a Vietnam-Russia oil joint venture, will start crude oil production at the Ca Tam field offshore southern Vietnam from Jan. 15, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3497; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
