The Middle East crude market continued to fall Friday, with Oman on the DME declining for a second day after Saudi Arabia cut prices for most of its crude for December. Yet heavy grades could still trade at firm premiums on strong fuel oil cracks when the front-month January trading to commence next week. The Kingdom reduced the official selling prices (OSPs) for four of five grades by between 5 cents and $1.70 a barrel. Against the backdrop of the cut by Saudi Arabia, the move by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) to raise prices will mean its flagship grades such as Murban will come under pressure when spot trading begins, traders said. OSPs for December loading Iranian, Iraqi and Kuwaiti crude heading to Asia are likely to fall. Qatar has reduced its October OSP for Marine crude to $106.30 a barrel, down $1.55 from September, Qatar News Agency said. This puts the Qatar Marine OSP at $2.35 a barrel above Dubai quotes, up 81 cents from September. It also set the October Qatar Land crude OSP at $108.00, down $2.00 from September. The October Qatar Land OSP is at $4.05 a barrel above Dubai quotes, up 36 cents from the previous month.
