Benchmark Dubai crude slipped back into a discount on Thursday amid relatively quiet trade, while Oman and Murban also softened.

Chinese refiner Rongsheng Petrochemical bought 3 million barrels of Brazilian and Qatari crude oil via a spot tender, several trade sources said on Thursday.

The refiner purchased 2 million barrels of Brazilian Atapu and Tupi crude from Petrobras for March delivery, they said. It also bought 1 million barrels of February-loading al-Shaheen crude from Unipec, the sources said.

Separately, it bought 2 million barrels of Basra Heavy crude for loading at end-January at $3 a barrel below its official selling price, traders said.

INVENTORIES

U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 15 to 443.7 million barrels, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.3 million-barrel drop.

U.S. oil refiners are expected to have 14,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending Dec. 22, after operating at full capacity in the previous week, research company IIR Energy said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s differential to swaps slipped to a discount of 8 cents a barrel on Thursday.

Shell will be delivering one February-loading Oman cargo to Glencore.
Source: Reuters