Middle East crude benchmarks extended declines on Thursday, with spot premiums of Dubai hitting the lowest since December 2023, as market braced for mounting supplies.

OPEC+ may speed up production increases in November from the 137,000 barrels per day hike it made for October at its meeting on Sunday as its leader Saudi Arabia pushes to regain market share, sources told Reuters earlier this week.

Indian Oil Corporation issued a tender that will close on Friday to buy crude for November-loading, trade sources said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 48 cents to $0.37 a barrel.

PetroChina will deliver a December-loading Upper Zakum crude to Mitsui following the deals.

NEWS

Fuel oil used in ships and power plants is seeing unexpected demand, with efforts to curb its use more than offset by an expanding shadow fleet of oil tankers serving Russia and others, and longer shipping routes as vessels avoid the Red Sea.

Kazakhstan’s state energy company Kazmunaygaz has transported 0.9 million tons of oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline since the beginning of 2025, it said on Thursday.

Russia boosted oil exports via its western ports by 25% in September versus August, according to three trading sources, as refinery outages caused by Ukrainian drone attacks freed up more crude.

Venezuela’s oil exports averaged 1.09 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, the highest monthly level since February 2020, according to shipping data and documents from state-run energy company PDVSA.
Source: Reuters