RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-ESPO steady, Cossack slips into wider discount
SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Russian sweet crude ESPO was
sold in Asia on Monday at steady to higher premiums than the
previous month on robust demand ahead of peak winter season.
* TENDERS
- Surgutneftgaz sold a Nov. 8-12 loading cargo to Vitol at a
premium just above $4 a barrel to Dubai quotes while JX bought a
Nov. 9-13 cargo at slightly over $5 a barrel premium, traders
said. Sinochem bought the Nov. 11-15 cargo at $4.75 a barrel to
Dubai quotes. The deals could not be independently verified.
Surgut previously sold October-November cargoes at premiums
between $4 and $4.20 a barrel.
Yet some traders expect the additional supply to weigh on
spot premiums once the limited pool of buyers in Asia, mainly
Japan and China, complete their purchases.
- Petrodiamond bought a Nov. 2-3 ESPO cargo in the TNK-BP
tender last week in addition to the Nov. 7-11 one, traders said.
It has sold the two cargoes to a Japanese end user at about
$5 a barrel to Dubai quotes.
- Malaysia's Petronas sold two cargoes of Muda and one of
Cakerawala condensate for November at premiums compared with
discounts in previous months on robust naphtha cracks, traders
said.
The producer sold two 250,000-barrel cargoes of Muda
condensate to SK Energy at parity to $1 a barrel above dated
Brent for Nov. 1-7 and 23-29 loading, they said.
It also sold 300,000 barrels of Cakerawala condensate for
loading on Nov. 19-28 to BP at a premium of about $1 a barrel to
dated Brent, traders said.
- Indonesia's Petral did not award a tender seeking sweet
crude for December delivery as offers were too high.
In a separate tender to sell Geragai condensate for loading
between October and December, Petral sold the supply to a trader
at a premium to the grade's Indonesia Crude Price (ICP). The
trader who will lift 300,000-400,000 barrels each month is
likely to re-sell the cargoes to China.
* TRADES
- Mitsui has sold its November Cossack cargo to a Japanese
refiner at a wide discount of nearly $2 a barrel to dated Brent,
reflecting weak demand for the naphtha-rich grade.
Woodside sold its Cossack cargo to load at the end of
November at a discount of 75 cents a barrel to dated Brent to an
unknown buyer.
* OSP
- The official selling price of Malaysia's Tapis crude
TAP-OSP for September has been calculated at $115.91 a barrel,
down $2.46 from the previous month, traders said.
- The official Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) for Minas has
been calculated at $112.76 a barrel for September, down $2.46
from August, an industry source with direct knowledge of the
matter said.
* REFINERY
- Japanese refiner Nansei Sekiyu said on Monday it halted
oil refining operations at its 100,000 barrels-per-day Nishihara
refinery in Okinawa on Saturday morning as a typhoon that
brought heavy rain and strong winds approached.
* MARKET NEWS
- Dar Petroleum said on Friday it aimed to produce 180,000
barrels per day (bpd) of crude in South Sudan within two to
three months as authorities in neighbouring Sudan ordered
preparations to begin to allow the oil to pass through its
territory.
Dar, formerly known as Petrodar, runs oil blocks 3 and 7 in
Upper Nile state which used to pump between 230,000 bpd and
250,000 bpd until the shutdown.
- Shell's Nigerian unit shut its Bonny oil pipeline
and deferred 150,000 barrels per day of production on Sunday
after oil thieves caused a fire, the company said.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
NOV Brent 111.81 112.59 -0.78
NOV Brent/Dubai EFS DUB-EFS-1M 3.55 3.60 -0.05
PRODUCT CRACKS
NOV fuel oil crack -6.26 -6.64 +0.38
NOV gasoil crack 19.02 19.22 -0.20
NOV naphtha crack -7.59 -7.26 -0.33
COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINS
Today 10.23
Last 5 days 9.39
Last 365 days 7.41