Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban extended gains for a third straight session on Tuesday, tracking strength in global oil futures market on hopes that U.S. and China would reach a deal that would improve fuel demand, traders said.
Complex refining margins in Singapore, the bellwether for Asian refiners, averaged near $7 a barrel in the past 15 days, the highest levels in more than a year, LSEG data showed, which may encourage refiners to process more crude.
The market is healthy as there are no cargoes carried over from last month, a trader said.
The bulls probably bought balance June/July spreads over the last couple of days to add to their length, he added.
SAUDI ALLOCATION
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to dip slightly in July, trade sources said on Tuesday, but still strong for a third straight month as the OPEC kingpin regains its market share supplying the world’s top crude importer.
State oil firm Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, 1 million barrels less than June’s allotted volume.
State refiners Sinopec, PetroChina and Aramco’s joint venture Fujian refinery will be receiving more crude in July, while the allocation for independent refiners Rongsheng Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical and Shenghong Petrochemical will dip, the sources said.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 20 cents to $1.41 a barrel.
NEWS
OPEC oil output rose in May, a Reuters survey found, although the increase was limited as Iraq pumped below target to compensate for earlier overproduction and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates made smaller hikes than allowed.
California’s fuel imports rose to the highest in four years in May as refiners turned to historical trading partners in Asia and tapped some unusual routes to make up for shortages in the No.2 U.S. oil consumer state, according to shipping data and traders.
Chevron CVX CEO Mike Wirth told employees they needed to reinforce safety standards after a growing number of injury near-misses in an internal video message on April 29, just weeks before three workers died due to a fire on one of the company’s oil platforms in Angola.
Source: Reuters