ME crude: April Murban holds steady

The Middle East crude market held firm on Wednesday, with values for the benchmark Murban crude pegged just above 10 cents a barrel, steady to the previous session. With trading of April cargoes wrapped up, the market looked towards the next round of official selling prices from Middle Eastern producers. Top exporter Saudi Arabia could possibly raise prices for its flagship Arab Light crude on a wider Dubai backwardation, although weaker product cracks could dampen such expectations, according to early indications from traders. Saudi Aramco is due to release their official selling prices for May by March 5. The official selling price (OSP) for Oman crude in April will rise $6.69 to $117.32 a barrel, Reuters calculations based on data from the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) showed on Wednesday. The April Oman OSP is the average of the daily Oman settlements at 0830 GMT in February for the front-month contract OQc1. The Dubai crude OSP for May was set at a discount of 70 cents per barrel. SK Energy sold 10 Dubai partials to Shell and Vitol at $119.90-$120.00 a barrel.