Middle East crude benchmarks were little changed on Thursday, with three cargoes delivered on the window.
TENDERS
Taiwan’s state refiner CPC has bought 4 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude at premiums below $3.50 a barrel to dated Brent from Occidental and Mercuria, traders said.
RUSSIAN CRUDE
Russia’s ESPO Blend oil exports from its Far East Kozmino port in July are set to hit a record high of 3.9 million metric tons (943,550 barrels per day) in July while the grade’s prices are firming on recovering Chinese demand, several trade sources said.
ESPO Blend exports from Kozmino are expected to rise to 3.9 million tons in July from about 3.4 million tons (some 850,000 bpd) planned for this month, two sources said.
Spot discounts for ESPO Blend have been narrowing this month, supported by firm demand from Chinese independent refiners, three other sources said.
Demand from Indian refiners has also remained firm, one of the sources said.
The average discount for July-loading cargoes of ESPO Blend narrowed to about 60-70 cents per barrel to ICE Brent on a delivered ex-ship (DES) China basis, they said.
June-loading cargoes for China had traded at discounts of between 80 cents and $1 per barrel, the sources said.
One of the sources said Russian ESPO crude prices are stabilising as the arbitrage window for alternative supplies from the Atlantic Basin is closed after Brent’s premium to Middle East Dubai quotes rose.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 5 cents to 60 cents a barrel.
TotalEnergies will receive two August-loading cargoes – one Murban from Trafigura and an Upper Zakum parcel from ExxonMobil following the deals. Hengli will deliver an Oman cargo to Mercuria.
REFINERY
Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery is operating normally after a fire at its effluent treatment plant, it said on Wednesday, after videos circulated online of dark plumes of smoke at the 650,000 barrel-per-day facility.
NEWS
A strike by environmental workers in Brazil is already impacting Petrobras’ operations in three offshore oil fields, the state-run firm told Reuters on Wednesday.
A U.S. federal court will likely extend the period for reviewing bids submitted in an auction of shares in the parent of Venezuela-owned refiner Citgo Petroleum, three people close to the matter said, which would delay a resolution to the seven-year-long case.
Norway’s Vaar Energi VAR.OL has made a small discovery of oil and gas just north of the Duva field in the North Sea, the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said on Thursday.
Onshore fuel oil stockpiles at key trading and storage hub Singapore fell in the week ended June 26 after climbing for four straight weeks, the latest data showed Thursday.
Chris Bake, a longstanding top executive at global energy trader Vitol, is stepping down from its executive committee but will remain a board member of subsidiaries Vivo and VTTI, a source familiar with the matter said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan: Editing by Tasim Zahid)