Middle East oil prices jump on robust demand from Asia and scant flows from Iran & Russia

While market has started on a quieter note in Jan, traders said it's still early & bidding can progressively intensify over month

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The price of some Middle Eastern oil grades strengthened in the final week of December on robust demand from Asian refiners, after barrels from Iran and Russia became sparse and more expensive, Bloomberg reported.

Oman and Dubai crude surged to a rare premium to Brent, while Murban futures outperformed the global benchmark in the last two months of the year. Prices gained on higher demand from China and India, and active bidding on the so-called Platts window by companies such as TotalEnergies SE, according to traders.