AUSTRALIA: Mitsui has sold a partial Enfield cargo at a premium between $3 and $3.50 a barrel to dated Brent to load in April 14-18, traders said. There had been an option to sell this cargo along with a partial Vincent but the latter remains unsold, they said.

VIETNAM: Vietnamese state oil marketer PV Oil may have sold its Ruby and heavy Bach Ho crude cargoes loading in April to its domestic Bin Son Refinery (BSR), traders said. This would be in addition to April-December Bach Ho light crude supplies that has also likely been awarded to BSR at about $3.50 a barrel above dated Brent, they said.

MALAYSIA: The official selling price of a basket of February-loading Malaysian crude oil grades has been set at $69.39 a barrel, Malaysian state oil firm Petronas said.

BRENT-DUBAI EFS

Brent's premium to Dubai swaps was at $3.67 per barrel for May.

NEWS

US crude oil production shattered a 47-year output record in November and retreated slightly in December, the US Energy Department said on Wednesday, as oil production from shale continued to upend global supply patterns.

The chairman of China's CEFC China Energy, the private firm that has agreed to buy a nearly $10 billion stake in Russian oil major Rosneft, has been investigated for suspected economic crimes, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Commodities trader Noble Group plunged to a $4.9 billion annual loss, mainly due to losses on derivatives contracts, and said it was still in talks with creditors to finalise a rescue deal.

Spain's Repsol has asked Bank of America-Merrill Lynch to value its energy portfolio in the North Sea as it considers leaving a troubled joint venture with China's Sinopec, two banking sources said.

Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday it will exit joint ventures with Russia's Rosneft, citing US and European Union sanctions first imposed in 2014.