OMAN TERM: Oman crude oil sellers have locked in 2019 supplies at higher premiums than for the previous year on the back of higher financing costs, several trade sources said.

Oman cargoes with a 0.2 percent operational tolerance were sold at premiums

of about 5 cents a barrel above the official selling price (OSP), against premiums of about 4 cents from the previous year, they said.

The rise in outright prices and higher interest rates have increased financing costs for traders when they purchase Oman crude on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange, the sources said.

The higher premiums for Oman were also indicative of expectations of lower supplies from Iran next year as US sanctions hit Tehran's exports, one of the sources said.

Talks were continuing for cargoes with a 5 percent operational tolerance, the sources added.

Some of the sources expected deals to be done at premiums of 14-15 cents a barrel, though one upstream company may have sold its supplies at premiums higher than 15 cents.

RUSSIA: Exxon Mobil has sold three Sokol cargoes in a tender that closed on Friday. Two of the cargoes are to load in December while one is to be lifted in November. Details on prices and buyers were not immediately known.