Dubai Petroleum leaves January crude OSP unchanged at DME -$0.05/b

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - Dubai's Department of Petroleum Affairs has left the Official Selling Price (OSP) for Dubai crude loading in January unchanged at a discount of $0.05/b to the average settlement of Oman crude oil futures traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange in November 2022.

January is the front-line contract during that period, while the narrow spread reflects the near-parity level the two grades a trading at this month.

The Quantum monthly average for December-loading cash Dubai to date is $91.00/b, while the DME Oman has averaged $91.05/b based on common-pricing days for October.

Adnoc's Upper Zakum has been largely setting the Dubai assessment this month as the lowest of the Dubai 'basket' grades, although one Oman cargo has also been nominated via the partials trading process. 

Both benchmarks are used by regional producers, including Saudi Aramco, Bahrain, and Kuwait to calculate OSPs.

Dubai production is typically three to four cargoes of 500,000 barrels per month but still plays an important role in the Dubai benchmark, which takes its name from the Dubai grade.