RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-Vietnam, Malaysia grades slip
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific crude market
slipped on Tuesday after Vietnamese and Malaysian grades sold at
lower premiums for September on lacklustre demand and a strong
Brent marker.
* TRADES
- Petronas sold a Labuan cargo for September at $4 to $5 a
barrel above dated Brent, down from a premium of about $5 in the
previous month.
The producer has also sold 300,000 barrels of Dulang to an
end user at $4 to $5 a barrel above dated Brent.
* TENDERS
- Vietnam's PV Oil has sold 700,000 barrels of Bach Ho for
September loading to two buyers via a tender, traders said.
PV Oil sold 300,000 barrels of Bach Ho to Arcadia and
400,000 barrels to Petrobras at premiums between $4 and $5 a
barrel to dated Brent, they said.
- Russian oil producer Rosneft sold via tender a cargo of
Russian ESPO crude for loading in September at a higher premium
than the previous month as demand improved with better refining
margins, traders said.
The producer sold 730,000 barrels of ESPO to South Korean
refiner SK Energy at a premium of about $3.40 a barrel to Dubai
quotes, they said, although this could not be confirmed. The
cargo will load on Sep. 21-24.
- India's Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) has
bought 600,000 barrels of Libyan Mellitah condensate for Sep.
1-15 loading, traders said.
MRPL bought the cargo from Japanese trader Marubeni at a
premium of more than $2 a barrel to dated Brent on a
cost-and-freight (C&F) basis, which is equivalent to a discount
of about 75 cents, they said.
* OSPs
- Petronas has set new official selling price (OSP) formulas
for six grades of crude to take effect from September, trade
sources said.
The move is aimed at better reflecting the values of
distillates-rich grades, which usually fetch higher premiums
because of stronger demand from refiners.
Tapis will remain at parity to OSP, while Labuan and Kikeh
will be priced at $1.30 a barrel above OSP, Miri at $1 above OSP
and Dulang at 40 cents above OSP, the sources said. Bintulu will
be at a 30 cent a barrel discount to OSP.
* REFINERY
- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co said it
started preparations on Tuesday to restart the fire-hit 220,000
barrels per day No.2 crude distillation unit at its Chiba
refinery, east of Tokyo, earlier than its previous schedule.
* MARKET NEWS
- OPEC oil output fell further from its highest in four
years in July as U.S. and European sanctions cut supply from
Iran to the lowest in more than two decades, a Reuters survey
showed.
- China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, may
consider raising the prices of gasoline and diesel after three
consecutive price cuts as a rise in a basket of crude oil prices
hit a trigger point, data from an energy consultancy showed.
