RTRS:Middle East Crude-June al-Shaheen expected to weaken
SINGAPORE, April 11 (Reuters) - Sentiment in the Middle East crude market
continued to be depressed on Wednesday, weighed down by poor refining margins.
Traders expect Qatar's al-Shaheen crude for June to fall below the previous
month's premiums of around $2.50 to Dubai quotes. Trading of June al-Shaheen is
expected to begin by the end of the week.
May Oman futures traded on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange were flat at $1.55
a barrel above Dubai quotes by 0830 GMT.
* OSP
- Kuwait has cut the official selling price (OSP) for its crude oil sales to
Asian buyers for May by 10 cents a barrel from the previous month to $0.60 cents
a barrel above the average of Oman/Dubai quotes, a trade source said on
Wednesday.
The April OSP was $0.70 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average.
Kuwait's crude price formula is loosely linked to that of Saudi Arabia's
Arab Medium grade.
* TRADES
- Morgan Stanley sold 3 Dubai partials, two to Vitol and one to Shell, at
$116.75-$116.90 a barrel. SK Energy bought one Dubai partial from Trafigura at
$117.05 a barrel.
MARKET NEWS
- Taiwan's refinery throughout for February climbed 11.2 percent from the
previous month to 25.5 million barrels, or about 880,000 barrels per day,
government data showed on Wednesday, as refineries came back online after
undergoing maintenance.
- Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil 5007.T has bought 200,000 kilolitres (1.26
million barrels) of Saudi Arabian crude from storage in Japan to fill its spot
requirements, industry sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
- Sudan said on Wednesday it would use "all legitimate ways and means" to
oppose what it said was South Sudan's assault on an oil-producing border region
disputed between the two countries and long marred by clashes.
CRUDE Price Prev Chang % change
MAY Oman diff to Dubai 1.55 1.52 0.03
MAY Brent 119.38 122.0 -2.66 -2.18%
MAY Dubai 115.21 117.6 -2.39 -2.03%
MAY DME Oman 116.76 119.1 -2.36 -1.98%
MAY Brent/Dubai EFS 4.17 4.44 -0.27
