Declining demand from China amid softening economic activity due to the coronavirus added to the previous week's bearish sentiment. The front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EPS) sank by $1.50/bbl over the week to Feb. 7, ending at just 750/bbl-far below the $3/bbl mark that makes arbitrage feasible. From Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, the price for OPEC's basket of crudes lost $3.22/bbl to hit $55.72/bbl (As of the time of writing, OPEC had not posted its basket price for Friday, Feb. 7.) Cash prices for Dubai crude slid by $4.20/bbl over the week to end at $54.30/bbl, while Murban dropped by $1.94/bbl to $57.99/bbl. All three of the Middle Eastern grades reached lows during the week that had not been seen since Jan. 2019.
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