Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 27, 2026
2 min readLast updated: March 27, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleDubai crude’s spot premium plunged over 60% to around $17/bbl on March 26 as more sellers — including Unipec, Vitol, Shell and BP — flooded offers while TotalEnergies’ trading arm remained the lone bidder amid heightened volatility from shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz due to the U.S.–Is
By Siyi Liu and Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, March 27 (Reuters) - Spot premium for Dubai crude slumped by more than half to hit its lowest level in three weeks as more sellers emerged and piled on offers while TotalEnergies remain the sole bidder, according to traders and data collated by Reuters.
The premium for the Middle East benchmark, that prices millions of barrels of crude that Asia imports, dropped sharply to about $17 a barrel at the market close on Thursday, down more than 60% from $51.20 a barrel in the previous session, underscoring severe price volatility due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran which has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Sellers such as Unipec, Vitol, Shell and BP started offering Dubai an hour before the trading window started, three of the people said.
"They had more than an hour to keep offering (Dubai) down," one of them said.
"Totsa came up but it wasn't even trying to aggressively counter them."
Totsa, the trading arm of French major TotalEnergies, has been the sole buyer of Middle East crude during the Platts window, snapping up a total of 69 Oman and Murban crude cargoes this month so far, or 34.5 million barrels, trade data showed.
The company could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours. It had previously declined to comment on its Dubai trades.
Dubai's premium spiked to an all-time high of about $65 a barrel last week as the amount of crude available for trading fell after S&P Global Platts excluded three of the five crude grades in anticipation of a prolonged disruption in shipping via the Strait of Hormuz.
The price spike has caused Asian refiners to shun spot Middle East crude purchases and instead buy oil from Europe, Africa and the Americas.
(Reporting by Florence Tan and Siyi Liu; Editing by Michael Perry)
Dubai crude's spot premium fell over 60% due to an influx of sellers and limited buyer activity, with TotalEnergies as the only bidder.
Sellers included Unipec, Vitol, Shell, and BP who offered Dubai crude before the trading window started.
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz caused market volatility, reducing available crude grades and leading to a price spike and subsequent premium drop.
Asian refiners shunned spot Middle East crude purchases and turned to oil from Europe, Africa, and the Americas due to the price spike.
TotalEnergies has bought 69 Oman and Murban crude cargoes, totaling 34.5 million barrels, in the month so far.
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