RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-Sentiment for NWS condensates stays weak
SINGAPORE, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Sentiment in the
Asia-Pacific crude market softened on Thursday, with north-west
shelf (NWS) condensates for April-lifting expected to trade at
lower levels over the previous month.
China's Unipec was heard to have bought four cargoes of
March NWS and Bayu Undan condensates last month, as it sought to
reduce dependence on Iranian supplies.
Despite greater Chinese buying interest, weaker naphtha
cracks in Asia will weigh on regional condensates, traders said.
With trading activity still muted for April cargoes, traders
were waiting for the results of Vietnamese tenders and the
Australian crude loading programme to be firmed up by early next
week.
* TENDERS
- Rosneft is offering to sell one cargo of 730,000 barrels
of Sokol crude for April loading via a tender which closes on
Feb 10.
* EFS
- Front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps
(EFS) for March DUB-EFS-1M rose 27 cents to $3.39 a barrel.
* MARKET NEWS
- China's implied oil demand is likely to rise 5 percent
this year to 9.9 million barrels per day, according to an
industry research report, a slower pace than 2011, as easing
economic expansion caps fuel consumption in the world's No.2
user.
- China's Sinochem Corp aims to nearly quadruple
its overseas oil and gas output to 300,000 barrels oil
equivalent per day by 2020, building three production hubs in
Colombia, Brazil and the Middle East, company sources said.
- South Korea's third largest refiner signed a rare 20-year
deal to buy oil from Saudi Arabia as Asia's crude consumers come
under U.S. pressure to reduce imports from sanctions-hit Iran.
* REFINERY MARGINS
- The complex refining margin for Dubai in Singapore was
$9.17 per barrel, down from an average of the last five days of
$10.13, Reuters data show. Over the last year, the average
margin has been $8.14 cents per barrel.
* CRACK SPREADS
- Fuel oil's March crack rose 87 cents to a discount of
$2.83 a barrel to Dubai crude.
- Gasoil's March crack eased 57 cents to a premium of $18.19
a barrel to Dubai crude.
- Naphtha's front-month crack gained 64 cents to a discount
of $6.03 a barrel to Brent crude.
* OUTRIGHT PRICES
- March ICE Brent was at $117.59 a barrel by 0830
GMT, up 92 cents from the previous session.
(Reporting by Francis Kan;Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
