Middle East crude benchmarks ticked up on Wednesday, after U.S. ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, raising fresh geopolitical tensions at a time of concerns over demand.

Supply concerns mounted further after a Bloomberg News report on Wednesday that the United States is preparing a further round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector to increase the pressure on Moscow should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace deal with Ukraine.

Global oil benchmark contracts jumped 2% on Wednesday, having settled near five-year lows in the previous session.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 11 cents to 46 cents a barrel.

BP and ExxonMobil will each deliver a February Upper Zakum crude cargo to Glencore following the deals.

NEWS

India’s Russian oil imports are poised to top 1 million barrels per day in December, trade and refining sources said, defying expectations of a sharp decline as refiners have resumed buying from non-sanctioned entities offering deep discounts.

Saudi Arabia’s Midad Energy has emerged as one of the leading contenders to buy Russian oil major Lukoil’s LKOH international assets, leveraging deep political ties with Moscow and Washington, three people familiar with the matter said.

Shell has restarted efforts to sell its stake in Germany’s PCK Schwedt oil refinery, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, aiming to exit an asset entangled in Western sanctions on Russia and Berlin’s need to secure fuel supplies.

Mexican state oil company Pemex has awarded five of the 11 new joint venture contracts it had planned to ink before the end of the year, according to four sources familiar with the matter and a document seen by Reuters.
Source: Reuters