Middle East Crude-Oman, Dubai premiums fall on rising Gulf exports

SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Spot premiums for Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai fell on Monday, after data showed rising flows from the Strait of Hormuz this month, easing some supply worries.

Crude oil exports from key Middle East producers rebounded in September to 12.8 million barrels per day, the highest since the US-Israeli war with Iran started in February, data from Kpler showed on Monday, as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates boosted exports.

The rebound came following a recovery in exports via the Strait of Hormuz, which were set to hit about 7.4 million bpd this month, as Saudi Arabia diverted oil exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu following attacks that damaged its East-West pipeline, the preliminary data showed.

While exports from the region - which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Iran - have rebounded, they were still about 6 million bpd down from 18.8 million bpd in February, according to Kpler.

SPOT TENDER

Indian Oil Corp IOC.NS, the country's largest refiner, bought 2 million barrels of Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy crude at a discount of about $28 per barrel to the October Dubai benchmark on a free-on-board basis, two trade sources said on Monday.

The Indian state refiner has bought oil from trader Mercuria, the sources said. IOC was seeking Iraqi oil for October 21 to 31 lifting through a tender.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell $4 to $13.09 a barrel.

Unipec will deliver a November-loading Murban crude cargo to TotalEnergies following the deals.

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

China is set to cut tariffs on a broad range of US agricultural goods, from corn and wheat to meat and dairy, but top import item soybeans were excluded from a tariff-reduction list jointly issued by China's commerce ministry and the White House.

TotalEnergies TTEF.PA said on Monday it was increasing fourth-quarter share buybacks to $2.5 billion, up from $1.5 billion in recent quarters, as high global energy prices boost returns for oil and gas majors.

Goldman Sachs said on Saturday that a US diesel export ban would initially put moderate downward pressure on diesel prices, and that restrictions on exports, including quotas, were a plausible outcome.

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