RTRS:Middle East Crude-Murban OSP premium to Dubai hits 10-month low
SINGAPORE, May 6 (Reuters) - Spot July differentials for Abu
Dhabi grades received a boost in the Middle East crude market on
Tuesday after the OPEC producer made sharp cuts to monthly
prices.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) cut the April retroactive
official selling price (OSP) for its benchmark Murban crude
MUR-OSP to $107.95 per barrel, down 35 cents from the previous
month.
April Murban OSP's premium to Dubai quotes fell 72 cents to
$3.27 a barrel for April, the lowest in 10 months, Reuters data
showed.
Murban was dragged down by weak demand for Lower Zakum last
month after Total sold a cargo to India at a wide discount of 97
cents a barrel.
Some traders expect July Murban to start trading in premiums
following the OSP cut.
"OSPs were reduced by a lot and demand will be back after
refinery turnaround," a trader with a Southeast Asian refiner
said. "However, spot premiums will not rise much since we still
have unsold cargoes."
Two to three cargoes of Murban for June loading could still
be available while there could be about five Upper Zakum cargoes
left, traders said.
Traders are also keeping a close watch on the unrest in
Ukraine which has spread to southwestern city Odessa, a key oil
port for Russian Urals crude and oil products exports.
*TENDERS
CNODC has likely awarded a tender to sell Oman crude to
Shell, traders said. In the tender, the buyer can lift
180,000-450,000 barrels of Oman per month between June and
December.
*DME OMAN
DME Oman for July settled at $104.03, down 87 cents, at 0830
GMT. This put DME Oman at $1.24 a barrel above Dubai swaps,
against a premium of $1.34 in the previous session.
* REFINERY
India's Bharat Petroleum Corp plans to fully shut
its 120,000-barrel-per-day Bina refinery in central India for up
to a month in September and October for maintenance, its head of
refineries B.K. Datta said.
* MARKET NEWS
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry threatened sanctions and
other "consequences" for South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar on
Monday if he refuses to commit to peace talks aimed at ending
more than four months of fighting that has killed thousands.
Brazil's oil and natural gas output rose to a 26-month high
in March as companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and
BG Group Plc made up for stagnant output from state-run
oil company Petrobras oil regulator ANP said.
Libya's oil production is currently 250,000 barrels a day
while the vital southern El Sharara oilfield remains closed, a
spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp (NOC) said.
A new protest has shut down the Zultun and Raquba oilfields
in central eastern Libya, halting their combined output of
39,000 bpd, NOC spokesman Mohammed El Harari said.
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