RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-Indonesian grades under pressure
SINGAPORE, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia's medium and heavy
sweet crude grades came under pressure in Asia on Tuesday as
demand for direct-burning crude in Japan slumped.
Crude inventories at power plants stayed high as they turned
to cheaper alternative fuel such as liquefied natural gas (LNG)
while effective power-saving measures reduced electricity
demand, traders said.
The power plants were still buying but not as much as
before, a trader said, adding that Minas needed to go lower to
attract buyers.
Oil majors placed bids and offers on Japanese pricing agency
RIM's public window in moves that could cap prices of Indonesian
grades, traders said.
Other Asia-Pacific grades rich in light products and middle
distillates were still supported by strong refining margins as
outages in the United States and Venezuela may boost Asia
products exports to those countries.
* BIDS/OFFERS
- Chevron offered 100,000 barrels of Minas crude for October
loading at $1 a barrel above October ICE Brent on RIM, capping
the crude's value at below this level, traders said.
The major also placed a bid for the spread between Minas and
Duri at plus $2.50 a barrel, a move that could widen the price
gap between them.
- BP placed a bid for Attaka crude at 90 cents a barrel
below October ICE Brent, providing a floor to the grade's price.
It continued to offer a spread between Attaka and Ardjuna at
plus $3.75 a barrel, putting pressure on the latter grade which
is rich in fuel oil and naphtha.
- Chevron bid for a spread between Attaka and Belida at
minus $1, a move that will price Belida at below Attaka's level.
* TRADES
- Eni sold an Oct Kitan to SK Energy at $5.70-$5.80 a barrel
below dated Brent, narrower from the $6-$7 a barrel discounts
fetched for September cargoes.
- Murphy sold two cargoes of Kikeh for October to oil majors
at about $5 a barrel above dated Brent, up from the about $4.50
premium fetched for Petronas' cargo sold in a tender two weeks
ago. Murphy also sold 300,000 barrels of Kidurong to a trader at
about $2 a barrel above dated Brent.
- Woodside sold a second North West Shelf (NWS) condensate
cargo for October to an oil major at $6.90 a barrel below dated
Brent, a narrower discount than its first cargo. It also sold
400,000 barrels of Laminaria at a discount of $6.30 a barrel to
dated Brent.
- ConocoPhillips sold a few weeks ago a Bayu Undan
condensate cargo for October to Chinese refiner CNOOC at a
discount of about $7.50 a barrel to dated Brent.
- Petronas sold 600,000 barrels of Nile Blend to load on
Aug. 26-28 to Arcadia. One trader said the discount was likely
about $5.50 a barrel to ICP Minas.
* TENDERS
- Vietnam's PV Oil has sold two 250,000-barrel cargoes of
Ruby crude for October loading on a dated Brent price reference
for the first time, traders said.
The cargoes, to load during Oct. 10-16 and 24-30, were sold
to BP and Itochu at premiums of $1.50-$2 a barrel to dated
Brent, traders said.
- PV Oil sold 400,000 barrels each of Bunga Orkid and Bunga
Kekwa at premiums between $3.50 and $4 a barrel to dated Brent.
An oil major bought the Bunga Kekwa while an end user purchased
the Bunga Orkid.
- India's MRPL bought 600,000 barrels of Qua Iboe crude from
Glencore at about $5.70 a barrel above dated Brent on a
cost-and-freight (C&F) basis.
- Taiwan's CPC bought three cargoes of Cabinda from Chevron
and Totsa and a cargo of Palanca crude from Sonangol for
November delivery.
- India's BPCL issued a tender to buy sweet crude for
loading on Oct. 16-25. The tender will close on Aug. 28 with
offers valid until a day later.
* ASIA CONDENSATE
- Asia's condensate demand is expected to double by 2016 as
refiners and petrochemical makers build splitters to process an
abundant supply of the super light crude into raw materials for
making plastics and for producing better quality gasoline to
feed demand.
* REFINERY
- Japanese refiner Nansei Sekiyu said on Tuesday it expects
to restart its 100,000 barrels per day Nishihara refinery in
Okinawa on Aug. 31, after a strong typhoon passed over the area.
- Venezuela's biggest refinery could restart operations on
Friday and fires still burning in three storage tanks will be
extinguished within two days, the country's energy minister told
Reuters.
* MARKET NEWS
- CNOOC, China's top offshore oil producer, is looking to
team up with foreign companies this year to explore for oil and
gas in another 26 blocks, including 22 in the strategically
important South China Sea.
- The global crude oil market is sufficiently supplied as
output has adjusted to the loss of Iranian trade, and higher
prices alone do not justify a release of strategic reserves, the
head Of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
OCT Brent 112.76 114.86 -2.10
OCT Brent/Dubai EFS 3.55 3.80 -0.25
