RTRS:Asia-Pacific Crude-Dec ESPO premium drops to 2-year low
SINGAPORE, Nov 1 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific crude market
weakened on Thursday as the premium on Russian ESPO blend crude
dropped to a two-year low on higher supplies and weak demand.
Asian refiners have mostly completed their purchases for
December and are preferring to keep inventories low at the end
of the year for accounting reasons, leaving little demand for
Russian ESPO.
Supplies are also higher as December ESPO crude blend
exports from the Pacific port of Kozmino rose to an all-time
high of 1.8 million tonnes, up 200,000 tonnes from the previous
month, thanks to a pipeline extension, a loading schedule seen
by Reuters showed.
The spot premium for ESPO last hit a low of about $2 above
Dubai quotes for cargoes loading in December 2010, according to
Reuters data.
Traders said term contracts for Te Giac Trang grade for
January to June cargoes may be fixed at around $5 premium to
dated Brent. The July to December term contracts were set at
$6.6-$6.7 premium to dated Brent.
* TENDERS
- Surgutneftgaz, Russia's fourth-largest oil producer, sold
six cargoes of December ESPO at premiums between $2.20 and just
above $2.80 a barrel to Dubai quotes, the lowest in two years,
traders said on Thursday.
"They came out with the tenders too late as most refiners
were covered for December," a trader said.
Surgut sold three cargoes in the first tender to Shell and
Mercuria at premiums between $2.20 and just above $2.80 a barrel
to Dubai quotes, while another three were sold at premiums
between $2.20 and $2.50 a barrel, traders said. Buyers in the
second tender have yet to emerge.
- Petral, the trading unit of Indonesian state-run energy
firm Pertamina, bought 600,000 barrels each of Russian ESPO and
Vityaz, for January delivery.
It bought ESPO at a premium of $2-$3 a barrel to dated Brent
and Vityaz at a $3-$4 per barrel premium to dated Brent, both on
a cost-and-freight (C&F) basis. These could not be confirmed
with the companies.
-Petron Corp, the Philippines biggest oil refiner, is
seeking between 500,000 and 740,000 barrels of sweet crude
arriving in early January. The tender closes on Monday and is
valid until Tuesday.
TRADES:
Su Tu Den: Conoco Philips sold December crude to a Japanese
buyer at $4 per barrel premium over dated Brent.
Tapis: Petronas sold December crude to Shell at $5 per
barrel premium over dated Brent, up from a $3.9-$4 per barrel
premium for a November cargo.
Van Gogh: Inpex sold a 400,000 barrel December cargo at a
premium of more than $5 per barrel over dated Brent to a
Japanese buyer. The grade was traded last month at a premium of
$5-$5.5 per barrel.
Vincent: Woodside sold two December cargoes at a premium of
$4.5-$5 per barrel over dated Brent. The buyer's identity was
not immediately known.
Enfield: Woodside sold a 550,000 barrel December cargo of
the grade to Chinaoil at a premium of $8-$9.20 per barrel over
dated Brent.
Stybarrow: Woodside sold a 550,000 barrel December cargo to
Chinaoil at a premium of $8-$8.70 per barrel to dated Brent,
little changed from the over $8 per barrel premium that a
November cargo fetched last month.
OSP:
The official selling price of Malaysia's Tapis crude
TAP-OSP for October has been calculated at $115.10 a barrel,
down 81 cents from the previous month, traders said.
The OSP is set each month by adding an alpha factor to the
monthly average dated Brent price. The average dated Brent price
for October was calculated at $111.60 a barrel, the sources
said, while the alpha was set by Petronas at $3.50.
Petronas applied new differentials to other Malaysian grades
Labuan, Miri Light, Dulang, Bintulu and Kikeh
* MARKET NEWS
- Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil Co is aiming to restart oil
refining operations at its 220,000 barrels per day (bpd) Chiba
refinery from January if it receives approval from local
authorities, an official said on Thursday.
- South Korea's crude oil imports in October fell 2.2
percent from a year earlier to 81 million barrels, preliminary
customs data released by the economy ministry showed on
Thursday.
- Canada is likely to extend its review of the $15.1 billion
bid by China's CNOOC Ltd for oil producer Nexen Inc beyond next
week's deadline to allow more time for the government to
formulate a broad framework on foreign investment, two sources
close to the matter said on Wednesday.
CRUDE Price Prev Change
DEC Brent 108.64 109.57 -0.93
DEC Brent/Dubai EFS DUB-EFS-1M 3.50 3.75 -0.25
PRODUCT CRACKS
DEC fuel oil crack -9.41 -9.17 -0.24
DEC gasoil crack 18.98 18.83 +0.15
DEC naphtha crack -5.86 -6.63 +0.76
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