SINGAPORE: Spot differentials for Middle Eastern crude loading in December have hit multi-month highs on robust demand from Chinaoil.
The trading arm of PetroChina has snapped up 16.5 million barrels of crude so far this month on a trading platform operated by pricing agency Platts, traders said on Friday.
A record 18 Upper Zakum cargoes were delivered in the window, in addition to 14 Oman cargoes and one cargo of Dubai crude, they added.
Outside the window, Upper Zakum has been traded at a premium of $1 a barrel to its official selling price (OSP), traders said.
This is the highest premium since November 2013, according to Reuters data.
Qatar has sold six cargoes of al-Shaheen crude via a tender at 56 cents a barrel below Dubai quotes on average, the narrowest discount in four months, according to traders and Reuters data. (Reuters)
