Oman crude oil futures rose to a 30-month high
today as refiners locked in supplies, prompted by concerns that some production
in Libya may be halted.
Oman
futures for April delivery gained $5.65 to $114 a barrel on the Dubai
Mercantile Exchange at 5:13pm Singapore time, with 1,542 contracts traded.
That’s the highest since August 29, 2008. The settlement price was set at
$113.18 at 12:30pm Dubai time.
Murban for April loading,
produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., was at a premium of 28 cents a barrel
to its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Qatar
Marine gained 2 cents to a premium of 5 cents a barrel, Bloomberg data showed.
About 33 percent to 66
percent of Libya’s 1.6 million barrel-a-day of production may be shut after
companies including Repsol, Total, Eni and BASF’s Wintershall unit said they
were closing fields, citing safety concerns amid a revolt against the
government, according to reports by Barclays Capital and Goldman Sachs Group.
Libya shipped about 14
percent of its crude to Asia in 2009, while the majority went to France, Italy,
Germany and Spain, according to data from the US Energy Information
Administration.
Asian countries, including India and Indonesia, have purchased supplies
from the area in the past and China imported about 140,000 barrels a day from
there in January.
Oman
oil for immediate loading rose $10.05, or 9.7 percent, to $114.22 a barrel
today, according to Bloomberg data. Dubai for loading in April was up $9.70, or
9.3 percent, to $113.60. Murban crude climbed 9.1 percent to $116.91.
The Brent-Dubai exchange
for swaps for April, or EFS, widened $1.30 to $6.10 a barrel, according to data
from PVM Oil Associates. The exchange for swaps for May increased $1.12 to
$5.88.
Follow us on
