Oman crude official price drops $9.05 to $105.64 a barrel

Summary

• Oman's official crude price for January delivery fell $9.05 to $105.64 a barrel.
• November-delivery crude averaged $114.07, up $26.23 from the October settlement price.
• The swing points to sharp volatility in the revenue base of Oman's oil exports.

The latest

Oman's official crude price for January delivery settled at $105.64 a barrel, down $9.05, Qatar News Agency reported Monday from Muscat. The drop follows a far larger move in the other direction a month earlier, when the monthly average for November delivery came in $26.23 above October. The two figures together mark an unusually wide swing in the benchmark within a single pricing cycle.

Details

• The figure: The official Oman crude price for January delivery stood at $105.64 a barrel, according to Qatar News Agency, a decline of $9.05 from the previous reference level. The price is the formal settlement used for the grade rather than a spot-market quote taken during the session.
• The monthly average: Separately, the monthly average for Oman crude on November delivery reached $114.07 a barrel. That average sits $8.43 above the newly announced January-delivery figure, placing the latest print below the most recent full-month benchmark for the grade.
• The prior move: The November-delivery average was $26.23 higher than the October-delivery price, according to the same report. That increase was almost three times the size of the latest decline, and it came in the opposite direction within consecutive delivery months.
• The pricing cycle: Oman crude is priced on a forward-delivery basis, so Monday's number refers to cargoes loading in January rather than to barrels moving now. The gap between the pricing date and the delivery month means the figure reflects expectations for early next year.
• Revenue exposure: A $9.05 per-barrel move changes the value of every exported barrel priced off the grade. The announcement did not attach an estimate of the effect on state oil receipts, nor did it break down expected export volumes for the January delivery window.
• What was not stated: The announcement did not identify the drivers behind either the January decline or the earlier $26.23 monthly jump. No forecast was given for subsequent delivery months, and no comparison was offered with other regional benchmark grades.
• The benchmark role: Oman crude functions as a reference grade for Middle Eastern exports to Asian buyers, meaning its official price feeds into term contract values beyond the sultanate itself. The figures published cover the grade's own settlement only.
• Direction of travel: Taken in sequence, the published numbers show an October-to-November increase followed by a decline into the January delivery price. The reported data covers these three delivery months and no later period.

Between the lines

The two reported moves — a $26.23 monthly increase followed by a $9.05 decline — are both unusually large for an official settlement grade, and they run in opposite directions within a short span. For an exporter whose receipts are priced off this benchmark, the size of the swings matters as much as the direction of the latest one.

What's next

The next official Oman crude price announcement, covering a later delivery month, is the signal to watch, along with the full monthly average for December delivery and whether the January decline extends or reverses.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA)