Middle East Crude-Benchmarks steady; Qatar lowers February term price

SINGAPORE, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmark spot premiums held steady on Thursday after gaining in the previous session as traders assessed the supply outlook with an eye on possible further U.S. sanctions on Russia and a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers.

QatarEnergy has set the February prices at 53 cents a barrel above Dubai quotes, down from the 84 cents for January-loading cargoes, trade sources said on Thursday.

QatarEnergy sold five cargoes at premiums averaging around 42 cents a barrel to Dubai quotes to Glencore GLEN.L, Indian refiners Reliance RELI.NS and HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, the sources said.

Separately, Qatar awarded a Qatar Marine crude cargo at a discount of about 60 cents a barrel to Unipec, the trading arm of Chinese oil major Sinopec 600028.SS, and a Qatar Land crude cargo at a premium of about 30 cents to Reliance, the people said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 1 cent to 45 cents a barrel.

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

Oil and gas major BP BP.L has appointed Meg O'Neill, the head of Australia's Woodside Energy WDS.AX, as its next CEO to lead its effort to boost profits and refocus on oil and gas after a detour into renewables.

China's exports of refined oil products dropped 2.2% year-on-year in November but rose 13.3% from the previous month, customs data showed on Thursday.

The U.S. extended on Wednesday a waiver allowing oil sales from Russia's Sakhalin-2 project through June 18 next year, a move that likely allows production of liquefied natural gas from the project to continue.

Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA resumed loading crude and fuel cargoes on Wednesday after suspending operations at terminals on Sunday due to a cyberattack, although most exports remain on hold as the U.S. threatens to enforce a blockade on tankers under sanctions, according to three company sources, traders and shipping data.

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

(Reporting by Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Joe Bavier)

((siyi.liu@thomsonreuters.com;))

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