RTRS:Middle East Crude-Remains weak; traders await Sept OSPs
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - The Middle East crude market
remained weak on Tuesday, ending a month of poor demand that has
resulted in some unsold cargoes of September crude, traders
said.
There are still at least two unsold Qatar Marine cargoes
for September loading, traders said.
The depressed sentiment may prompt some Middle Eastern
producers to cut their official selling price (OSPs) for October
cargoes, which may help spur some buying next month. They will
begin to announce OSPs this week.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is expected to cut its OSP
by about 10 cents a barrel while the OSP for Qatar Marine may be
lowered by 60 cents a barrel, traders said.
The official selling price (OSP) for Oman crude in September,
based on the average of the daily settlement prices for the
front-month contract, will rise by $5.05 to $99.47 a barrel,
according to Reuters calculations based on data from the Dubai
Mercantile Exchange (DME).
*TRADES
There were no crude oil trades in the over-the-counter
window on Thursday. Phibro, Chinaoil and SK Energy offered
partial September Dubai cargoes at $101.90 per barrel. There
were no bids either.
*MARKET NEWS
- Iran should stop exporting crude oil and instead try to
sell refined oil products, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was
quoted as saying on Tuesday, a day after the United States moved
to tighten sanctions on its energy sector.
- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co 5019.T said it
started preparations on Tuesday to restart the fire-hit 220,000
barrels per day No.2 crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Chiba
refinery, east of Tokyo, earlier than its previous schedule.
- U.S. lawmakers moved a step closer to finalising new
sanctions aimed at further restricting Iran's oil revenues after
negotiators from the Senate and House of Representatives agreed
on a compromise bill on Monday.
- The sanctions reducing Iran's oil exports have played in
the favour of major producers such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and
Venezuela which now export about 21 percent more crude to Asia's
biggest buyers compared to a year ago.
- The Philippines will offer three areas in the South China
Sea for oil and gas exploration on Tuesday, two of them in
waters also claimed by China.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
SEP DME Oman diff to Dubai swaps +0.55 +0.69 -0.14
SEP Brent 105.61 105.88 -0.27
SEP Dubai 101.54 101.80 -0.26
SEP DME Oman 102.09 102.49 -0.40
SEP Brent/Dubai EFS 4.08
