Prices of Abu Dhabi’s popular flagship crude grade, Murban , have dropped over the past week as refiners prefer grades yielding more low-sulfur marine fuels and as supertanker freight rates soar while refining margins for gasoil in Asia are below the average for this time of the year. Last Thursday, Murban , a light crude with API gravity of 40.4 degrees and sulfur content of 0.79 percent, traded at a discount of US$0.15 to its official selling price (OSP), compared to a premium of US$0.25 to the OSP just days before that, according to Bloomberg estimates. The key reason for the lower buying interest in Murban has been the new rules for shipping fuels which enter into force on January 1, so refiners have turned to grades that can yield more low-sulfur high-viscosity marine fuels, traders and refiners tell Bloomberg. The rising costs of supertanker voyages between the Middle […]