Baffling Oil Surge Makes Obscure Benchmark the World's Costliest
- Low-quality Oman crude pricier than higher-quality Brent, WTI
- Oil buyers concerned that jump could make Saudi barrels costly
The silhouette of an electric oil pump in Texas, U.S.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
A two-day surge turned a sludgy, sulfurous and low-quality crude into the world’s costliest oil benchmark this week, confounding traders and throwing the market into turmoil.
Oman oil on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, which will play a key role when Saudi Arabia sets the cost of its shipments to Asia next month, is now more expensive than New York’s West Texas Intermediate and London’s Brent. Speculation over what drove the gain includes lower supply of similar-quality barrels from Iran because of U.S. sanctions and purchases by top crude importer China.