Middle East crude benchmark Dubai slipped for a fifth session on Thursday with PetroChina dominating sales of partials on the Platts window and delivering another two Murban cargoes.

ICE Murban’s premium to Dubai quotes halted four sessions of losses but stayed under $2 a barrel.

QatarEnergy has set the term price for June-loading al-Shaheen crude at the highest premium in six months on robust demand in Asia and tighter supply of medium high-sulphur grades from the Middle East, trade sources said.

The term premium for June-loading al-Shaheen crude rose to $2.54 a barrel to Dubai quotes, they said, up from $1.47 a barrel in the previous month.

The price was set after QatarEnergy sold two June-loading cargoes to Petronas and Unipec at premiums of $2.56 and $2.32 a barrel, respectively, in a tender.

Separately, QatarEnergy has sold a June-loading Qatar Marine crude cargo to Chinese refiner Shenghong Petrochemical at $1.60-$1.70 a barrel above Dubai quotes, the sources said.

Traders are awaiting monthly purchase tenders from Asian refiners to further gauge the region’s demand and price direction.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 4 cents to $1.95 a barrel. A total 18 Dubai partials were traded which led PetroChina to deliver two Murban cargoes to Total and Vitol.

REFINERY

Russia’s offline primary oil refining capacity has been revised upwards for April by 107,000 metric tons from previous expectations to 4.430 million tons, Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources showed on Wednesday.

NEWS

The Biden administration said it would not renew a license set to expire early on Thursday that had broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions, moving to reimpose punitive measures in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to meet his election commitments.

Venezuela’s loss of a key U.S. license that allowed it to export oil to markets around the world and secure investment is expected to hit the volume and quality of its crude and fuel sales while prompting a flurry of requests for individual U.S. deal authorizations.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has hired a crude oil manager as he builds a London trading office to manage crude and fuel deals for his new mega refinery near Lagos, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Vijay Kishore)