SINGAPORE, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific crude market
held steady on Thursday as traders watched for prompt Vietnamese
supply that could be released after a local refinery shut
unexpectedly.
More prompt cargoes are likely to appear as Vietnam will
have to sell at least 1.9 million barrels of crude if the Dung
Quat facility, its sole refinery is down for two weeks.
Glencore offered 600,000 barrels of Bach Ho for October
loading earlier this week, but no other offers have been heard
so far.
Refiners have bought their crude requirement for November
and are unlikely to buy more as most of them are running at full
rates to cash in on high refining margins, a trader said.
"Buyers may have to float the cargo for 1-2 months," he
said, adding that this would incur backwardation and demurrage
costs.
* TENDER
- PV Oil offered 300,000 barrels of Te Giac Trang crude for
loading on Dec. 11-15. The tender will close on Oct. 18 with
bids valid until a day later.
* REFINERY
- South Korea's largest refiner, SK Energy, will delay a
maintenance shutdown at its No.2 crude distillation unit (CDU)
to next year from the originally planned date starting this
month, a spokesman at parent company SK Innovation
said.
* MARKET NEWS
- India's second largest refiner, Bharat Petroleum Corp
(BPCL), will complete expansion projects costing more
than $3 billion at two refineries by 2015, as it moves to boost
output and upgrade fuel quality, a senior company official said.
- Global oil demand is looking weaker than previously
forecast as the slowing economy continues to weigh on
consumption, according to monthly reports released on Wednesday
by the U.S. government and OPEC.
- Oil production in North Dakota accelerated in August,
jumping 3.6 percent from July levels to top the 700,000
barrel-per-day mark for the first time in the state's history,
data from the state Industrial Commission showed.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
NOV Brent 115.14 114.49 +0.65
NOV Brent/Dubai EFS DUB-EFS-1M 4.40 4.59 -0.19
PRODUCT CRACKS
NOV fuel oil crack -8.64 -8.13 -0.51
NOV gasoil crack 19.48 19.67 -0.19
NOV naphtha crack -7.58 -7.60 +0.02
COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINS
Today 10.19
Last 5 days 9.56
Last 365 days 7.38
