Qatar has raised its June retroactive official selling price (OSP) for Qatar Marine crude to $70.10 a barrel, up $11.80 from May and the highest in 10 months, the official Qatar News Agency reported.
The higher OSP followed an $11.56 jump in June Dubai quotes, the benchmark for the grade, and in line with rises for other benchmarks, and a 24-cent increase in the grade's premium to Dubai.
This leaves June Qatar Marine at a high 69-cent premium to Dubai, the highest in 13 months.
Traders expressed surprise at the premium hike after cargoes last traded at close to parity to Qatar Petroleum, down from initial trades at premiums of up to 27 cents at the beginning of June.
The news agency said Qatar had raised the Qatar Land price to $71.10 a barrel, up $11.50 from May. This came as Qatar cut Qatar Land's premium to Dubai by six cents to $1.69.
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