RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-Vietnam may offer prompt Bach Ho
SINGAPORE, May 15 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific crude market
was mixed on Tuesday as limited supply and robust Japan demand
lifted heavy sweets, but a possible prompt offer of Vietnamese
Bach Ho could weigh on light grades.
Vietnam's PV Oil is expected to offer Bach Ho for as prompt
as May loading, traders said, as its sole 130,500 barrels per
day (bpd) Dung Quat refinery will shut from Wednesday for three
to four weeks.
* TRADE
- Inpex sold the only Van Gogh cargo for July loading to
Japan at a premium of above $7 a barrel to dated Brent, higher
than the previous month. Japan's demand for medium, heavy sweet
crude is expected to surge this summer as all its nuclear
reactors are shut on safety concerns.
* TENDERS
- Vietnam's PV Oil offered 12 cargoes of Nam Con Son
condensate for loading between July and December in a tender as
it markets the grade for the first time. Each cargo is 80,000
barrels. The tender will close on May 21 with bids valid until
May 24.
The condensate, with an API gravity of 59 and 0.012 percent
sulphur, is usually marketed by Russian producer TNK-BP and is
sometimes used in gasoline blending.
- Russia's TNK-BP offered 730,000 barrels of ESPO to load on
June 30-July 3. The tender will close later today.
* MARKET NEWS
- Japanese refiner Toa Oil Co restarted the 65,000
barrels-per-day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Keihin
refinery near Tokyo, on Tuesday, four days later than original
scheduled, an industry source said.
- The clock is ticking for a three-month tolling agreement
that has supplied crude oil to the Coryton refinery in the UK,
which was run by insolvent Swiss refinery Petroplus, to expire
in less than 48 hours, a Member of European Parliament (MEP)
said.
- Sri Lanka expects a U.S. waiver of sanctions on imports of
Iranian crude after the island nation took steps to cut imports
from Iran by up to 38 percent, switching to alternatives from
Oman and Saudi Arabia, the country's oil minister said.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
JUNE Brent 111.74 110.81 0.93
JUNE Brent/Dubai EFS DUB-EFS-1M 3.86 3.72 0.14
PRODUCT CRACKS Price Prev Change
JUNE fuel oil crack -4.38 -4.80 0.42
JUNE gasoil crack 15.56 15.96 -0.40
JUNE naphtha crack -10.96 -9.59 -1.37
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