Spot premiums for Middle East crude benchmarks Dubai and Murban rose on Wednesday after slipping in the past two sessions, attracting demand from some Asian refiners.
India’s Reliance Industries bought 1.5 million to 2 million barrels of Murban crude from Totsa and Shell at premiums of about $1.60 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said.
PTT has also bought Murban at a premium of $1.56 a barrel from Repsol, one of the traders said.
The Thai refiner may have also bought Umm Lulu, another trader said.
Separately, QatarEnergy raised the September term price for al-Shaheen crude to $1.88 a barrel above Dubai quotes, trade sources said on Wednesday, the highest premium in three months.
The term price, up from a premium of $1.21 a barrel for August, was set after QatarEnergy sold three cargoes via a tender, they added.
Glencore bought the first cargo loading on Sept. 1-2 at a premium of $1.90 a barrel, while Totsa purchased the remaining two loadings on Sept. 17-18 and 25-26 at a premium of $1.80 a barrel, the sources said.
In another tender, China’s Rongsheng Petrochemical 002493.SZ bought 4.4 million barrels of Oman and Canadian crude oil exported from the recently expanded Trans-Mountain pipeline for delivery in October, trade sources said.
These include 2 million barrels of Oman crude and four 550,000-barrel cargoes of Canadian Access Western Blend (AWB) crude, they added.
Details on prices and sellers were not immediately available.
ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE
Regional sweet crude premiums rose on a lower supply of Malaysia’s Kimanis and Brunei’s Seria Light due to field maintenance, and as a wide Brent-Dubai spread is limiting Asia’s imports from the Atlantic Basin, traders said.
PV Oil has sold September-loading Chim Sao and Thang Long to Binh Son refinery, traders said. The premium for Chim Sao has risen about $1 from the previous month to above $7 a barrel, they said.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 2 cents to $1.74 a barrel.
ExxonMobil will deliver two Upper Zakum crude cargoes to PetroChina and Shell following the deals. This brings the total number of Upper Zakum crude delivered by the U.S. major to four this week.
SK Innovation 096770.KS, parent of South Korea’s largest oil refiner and battery maker SK On, said on Wednesday it will merge with energy affiliate SK E&S as the nation’s No. 2 conglomerate undertakes a major overhaul to boost profitability.
French oil major TotalEnergies TTEF.PA said on Tuesday its second-quarter hydrocarbon production levels will hit the top end of its guidance range, while pressure on refining margins will be partly alleviated by higher refinery utilisation.
Liberia-flagged oil tanker Chios Lion was assessing damage and investigating a potential oil spill after Yemen’s Houthis attacked it in the Red Sea, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said on Tuesday.
Russia’s energy ministry has proposed extending a gasoline exports ban into September and October, RBC daily reported on Wednesday, citing a deputy minister’s letter.
Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah fell to a seven-month low in June, extending declines to a third month, the latest data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Tasim Zahid)