Spot premiums for Middle Eastern crude benchmarks returned to levels seen before the Iran war this week as ample supplies weighed on the market, while cooling refining margins in Asia slowed buying interest, Reuters reports.
Middle Eastern producers ramped up crude exports in September and October, which JP Morgan analysts said has created a surplus, despite rising attacks on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The wave of supply has depressed Middle Eastern crude benchmarks this week to their lowest premiums since July, when an initial agreement to end the US-Israeli war with Iran enabled more Gulf oil exports through the Hormuz strait.
Dubai’s cash premium to swaps slumped to 65 cents a barrel on Monday, the lowest since July, before recovering to $1.55 a barrel on Thursday, Reuters data showed.
