Adnoc cuts January Murban OSP, slashes Upper Zakum differential

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) has cut Official Selling Prices (OSPs) for January-loading crude, with its flagship Murban grade set at $90.90/b, versus the November OSP of $93.53/b.

The Murban OSP, priced at the average settlement of ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) Murban contract during November, was down by 2.8%, after a strong expiry that saw Murban outpace medium sour grades.

Medium sour Upper Zakum was set at $85.70/b, a record discount of $5.20/b to Murban, versus minus $2.80/b for December cargoes.

Upper Zakum was the lowest of the Dubai basket grades during October, including a total of four Upper Zakum cargoes nominated following convergence in the MOC trading window, along with one Oman cargo.

Quantum's monthly average price for January-loading Dubai was $86.22/b, a fall of 5.4%. The Brent/Dubai cash spread averaged $5.18/b last month, compared to the October average of $2.13/b,

Das crude was set by Adnoc at minus $1.20/b, down $0.10/b on the previous month, while Umm Lulu was left unchanged at parity to Murban.

Adnoc recently informed customers that it will cut December crude term volumes to some Asia-based customers but provide full allocations in January.

The state-owned producer cited the operational tolerance clause which can adjust loading volumes by typically plus or minus 5% for logistical reasons.