State-owned Qatar Petroleum slashed the formula prices for its October-loading crude exports to the lowest level in four months.
The formula price for light sour Qatar Land was cut by USD1.4/barrel month-on-month, at a 90 cents discount/barrel compared to the monthly average of front-month Oman-Dubai assessments. For Qatar Marine, the price was slashed by USD1.35/barrel compared to the previous month, at a 75 cent discount/barrel to Oman-Dubai.
This would be the first time for both the grades to be priced at a discount to the benchmarks since their formula prices in June. Another unusual thing was that Qatar Marine was set at a premium to Qatar Land, for the third month in a row. The number was likely caused by the tighter heavy grades supplies due to the OPEC+ output cuts.
QP’s decision is highly affected by the October pricings from rival producers for competing grades such as Saudi Aramco’s light sour Arab Extra Light and medium sour Arab Light grades and UAE’s ADNOC’s light sour Murban and medium sour Upper Zakum.
