Middle East Oil Trades at Discount on Taiwan’s Refinery Shutdown

Middle East oil for sale to Asia traded at discounts on concern that the shutdown of a refinery in Taiwan may lead to extra supply on the market.

Murban, produced by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., stayed at 13 cents a barrel below its official selling price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. Qatar Marine remained at a discount of 18 cents a barrel to its official selling price, Bloomberg data showed.

Formosa Petrochemical Corp. has declared a force majeure on oil-product exports from its 540,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Mailiao, Taiwan, after it shut because of a fire on July 30. The company may be forced to delay some imports of crude, Lin Keh- yen, a spokesman, said in an interview today.

Oman crude for immediate loading climbed $2.02, or 1.8 percent, to $113.57 a barrel, Bloomberg data showed. Dubai oil for delivery in September rose 1.8 percent to $113.11. Murban increased 1.8 percent to $117.36.

Oman futures for October delivery rose $1.25 to $112.55 a barrel on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange at 6:26 p.m. Singapore time, with 978 contracts traded. The settlement price was $113 at 12:30 p.m. in Dubai.

The September Brent-Dubai EFS widened 49 cents to $5.97 a barrel, according to data from PVM Oil Associates Ltd., a London-based broker. The exchange for swaps for October gained 34 cents to $5.45.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Schmollinger in Singapore at christian.s@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net.