Intensive activity in Middle Eastern crude oil spot trading as India makes several purchases of Upper Zakum, Oman, and WTI; QatarEnergy’s monthly auction of al-Shaheen reaches 6 cargoes.

⑴ Multiple Indian refineries have recently made intensive purchases: IOC bought Upper Zakum (multiple batches, including 2 million barrels supplied by Mercury and 1 million barrels by Totsa) and WTI (2 million barrels supplied by Vitol); BPCL bought 1 million barrels of Oman and 500,000 barrels of Upper Zakum (Totsa, Dubai + $0.70-0.80/barrel); MRPL bought a total of 2 million barrels of Kisanje and Mostarda (supplied by Exxon). ⑵ In QatarEnergy's April loading spot sale, al-Shaheen had a total of 6 cargoes, each of 500,000 barrels, purchased by Totsa (1 cargo), Reliance (3 cargoes), and Shell (2 cargoes), at a price of Dubai futures + $0.87/barrel. 500,000 barrels each of Qatar Land and Qatar Marine were sold to Reliance (Dubai + $1.10) and Eneos, respectively. ⑶ India's BPCL signed a long-term contract with Trafigura for April 2026 to March 2027, with a quarterly supply of four cargoes of Oman crude (Dubai - $0.75/barrel) and one cargo of Basrah Medium crude (official price - $0.40/barrel). ⑷ Thailand's IRPC purchased two cargoes of Das crude oil, each 500,000 barrels, supplied by Glencore and Totsa, at Dubai + about $1.50. ⑸ In QatarEnergy's March loading spot sale, al-Shaheen had a total of 4 cargoes, each of 500,000 barrels. Totsa purchased one cargo at -$0.32/barrel, and Unipec purchased three cargoes at -$0.35/barrel, with the long-term price set at -$0.33/barrel.