RTRS:Middle East Crude-Sinopec to lift less Saudi crude in Aug
SINGAPORE, July 9 (Reuters) - China's top refiner, Sinopec
Corp, will lift less crude from top exporter Saudi
Arabia in August as it extends cuts for a second straight month.
Asia's top refiner, which takes in 80 percent of China's
Saudi crude imports, is already cutting production in July for
the second month as inventories bulge and margins fall due to
slowing demand.
The kingdom will supply full contracted volumes of crude to
other Asian term buyers in August, despite an unexpected
increase in the official selling price (OSP) this month.
Traders are assessing the direction for the Middle East
crude market, with concerns of slowing demand from China and
other top consumers weighing on sentiment. On the other hand, a
fall in exports from Iran due to tightening Western sanctions is
providing a floor.
Qatar, one of OPEC's smallest oil producers, has lowered its
June retroactive official selling price (OSP) for Qatar Marine
crude to $95.60 a barrel, down $12.90 from May.
That puts the Qatar Marine OSP at a $1.16 per barrel premium
to the June Dubai quotes average of $94.44, compared with a
$1.19 premium in May.
Brent crude oil climbed to around $99 a barrel on Monday as
failed labour talks stoked worries of a full shutdown of
Norwegian oil production, while hopes China would ease monetary
policy also supported prices.
*MARKET NEWS
- Norway is hours away from the first complete shutdown of
its oil industry in more than 25 years as the government holds
off on breaking up a fight between striking offshore workers and
employers, threatening exports from western Europe's top
producer.
- Goldman Sachs on Monday maintained its 3-month Brent crude
oil price forecast at $120 a barrel, saying that modest growth
in the global economy will support demand.
- China and India have entered more marked economic
slowdowns while growth continues to moderate in most major
industrial economies, the OECD said on Monday.
- Oil exports have resumed from Iraq's southern Basra
terminals with 1.536 million barrels per day shipped out on
Monday thanks to better weather, a shipping source said.
- Kairos Oil Trading, the latest start-up in Singapore, is
aiming for revenue of $1 billion within a year by ramping up
trade across the oil barrel and feeding the growing demand of
Asia's emerging economies, its chief executive said.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
SEP DME Oman diff to Dubai swaps 0.93 1.05 -0.12
AUG Brent 99.02 99.94 -0.92
SEP Dubai 95.89 96.86 -0.97
SEP DME Oman 96.82 97.91 -1.09
AUG Brent/Dubai EFS 2.90 2.82 0.08
PRODUCT CRACKS
AUG fuel oil crack -4.02 -3.52 -0.50
AUG gasoil crack 17.37 17.39 -0.02
AUG naphtha crack -8.46 -9.16 0.70
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