Brent crude’s premium to Dubai swaps rose to its highest since February after key oil producers reached an agreement to gradually increase output in January, Refinitiv data showed on Friday.
The price spread between low and high sulphur crude widened by 19 cents to $1.21 a barrel on Friday from the previous day’s close, the data showed.
A widening of the price spread typically encourages Asian refiners to buy more Middle East and Russian crude priced on the Dubai benchmark instead of low-sulphur oil from the Atlantic Basin.
Middle East benchmarks Dubai and Oman crude futures traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange have also strengthened this week with their spot premiums against Dubai swaps hitting the highest since July, according to Reuters data.
OPEC and Russia on Thursday agreed to ease deep oil output cuts from January by 500,000 barrels per day, but failed to come to a compromise on a broader policy for the rest of next year.
By Florence Tan
