SINGAPORE, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Higher Saudi and Abu Dhabi
official selling prices (OSPs) for October firmed the tone in
the Middle East crude market on Tuesday, as producers cash in on
rising demand following refinery maintenance.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia raised the price of Arab Light
crude for Asian customers by a larger-than-expected 90 cents to
a premium of $1.65 a barrel to Dubai quotes, up from a 75-cent
premium for September cargoes.
Northeast Asian refiners said the increase was reflective of
higher spot prices for October-loading cargoes. For example,
Oman crude cargo valuations jumped to a premium of 75 cents to
Dubai quotes at the end of August from discounts as deep as 30
cents earlier in the month.
The Saudis over the summer increased production towards 10
million barrels per day (bpd) and offered additional supplies to
Asian refiners, aiming to cool down oil prices. Refiners took
full nominated volumes but most refrained from asking for extra
supplies.
"After the promotion for the past months, the Saudis may
have realised there is not much additional demand, so they have
decided to raise OSPs again," a trader said, adding that
long-term Saudi allocations would not be affected by higher
OSPs.
Traders said Abu Dhabi crudes including Murban and Upper
Zakum would be relatively more attractive than Saudi grades with
the new OSPs.
* ADNOC OSPs
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) cut the August
retroactive selling price of its benchmark Murban crude by $4.90
a barrel to $109.05, it said on Monday.
The July official selling price (OSP) for Murban was $113.95
a barrel. ADNOC set the OSPs for Lower Zakum, Umm Shaif and
Upper Zakum at $108.75 a barrel, $108.25 per barrel and $105.05
a barrel, respectively.
* EAST-WEST
- The Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for
October was unchanged at $5.15 a barrel at 0830 GMT, Reuters
data showed. The front-month EFS on June 15 touched $9.20, the
highest intraday value since the spread reached a record of
almost $12 in October 2004.
* DME OMAN
- November Oman traded on the DME was at a premium of $1.16
a barrel to Dubai swap quotes at 0830 GMT, up 10 cents, using
the settlement price for DME futures, the ICE one-minute marker
for Singapore and the Brent-Dubai EFS as calculated by Reuters.
* MARKET NEWS
- Brazil's Petrobras has raised crude exports to
Asia to 38 percent of the country's total this year, boosting
share in the world's fastest-growing energy market with grades
most favoured by refiners from India to China.
- Shipments would increase from 34 percent in 2010,
Guilherme Franca, global crude trading manager at the
state-controlled oil company, told Reuters in an interview on
Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Petroleum
Conference (APPEC).
- South Korea's SK Energy will increase capacity at its two
residue fluidised catalytic crackers (RFCCs) by a combined 12
percent from the end of this year through 2013 with an
investment of 272 billion won ($254.4 million), a company
document and source said.
- A subsidiary of ConocoPhillips said all operations at an
oilfield in northern China's Bohai Bay have been shut down, as
ordered by China's marine authority.
- Libya's Benghazi-based oil firm the Arabian Gulf Oil
Company (AGOCO) said it will restart its two refineries by late
September, when production begins in the linked eastern
oilfields of Sarir and Mesla.
* REFINERY MARGINS
- Complex processing margins for Dubai in Singapore were
around $10.16 per barrel, down from an average of the last five
days of $10.19, Reuters data show. Over the last year, the
average margin has been around $7.16 per barrel.
* CRACK SPREADS
- Fuel oil's October crack narrowed 53 cents to a discount
of $6.58 a barrel to Dubai crude.
- Gas oil's October crack dipped 1 cent to a premium of
$17.79 a barrel.
- The naphtha CFR Japan October crack to Brent narrowed 2
cents to a discount of $6.24 a barrel.
* OUTRIGHT PRICES
- October ICE Brent LCOc1 was at $110.98 a barrel at 0830
GMT, down 59 cents from Monday.
(Reporting by Alejandro Barbajosa; Editing by Michael Urquhart)
