Benchmarks slip; China's Dec fuel exports likely at record high

Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban eased on Friday as China's slow exit from zero-COVID restrictions and increasing exports of oil products dampened recovery outlook for oil demand and refining margins.

China may close the year with record shipments of key transportation fuels in December as refiners rush to use their export quotas and maximize overseas profits to compensate for tepid domestic fuel demand caused by COVID-related curbs.

OSP

Kuwait dropped the official selling price (OSP) for two crude grades it sells to Asia in January from the previous month, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed on Friday.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 14 cents to $1.05 a barrel.

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

Russia will decide whether to increase its oil production based on the results of the first quarter of 2023, following the introduction of the European Union's embargo on Russian oil exports and a Western price cap, the TASS news agency reported, citing Russia's deputy finance minister.

Turkey's maritime authority said on Thursday it would continue to block oil tankers without appropriate insurance letters from its waters and it needed time to make checks, dismissing pressure from abroad over a growing queue of vessels.

Canada's TC Energy shut its Keystone pipeline in the United States after more than 14,000 barrels of crude oil spilled into a creek in Kansas, making it one of the largest crude spills in the United States in nearly a decade.

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