Middle East crude benchmark Dubai edged up on Wednesday, halting a three-day decline, supported by firm demand from Total and PetroChina.
A flurry of bids from the two companies led to the delivery of four January-loading Upper Zakum crude cargoes, bringing the total number of the Abu Dhabi parcels delivered so far this month to 10.
Total is the largest buyer so far with six cargoes followed by PetroChina.
IFAD Murban’s premium to Dubai swaps recovered to 78 cents a barrel on Wednesday, but is still hovering near five-month low levels.
Meanwhile, Brent’s premium to Dubai swaps fell to $1.37 a barrel, the lowest in more than a month, making Atlantic Basin grades more attractive than Middle East supply.
QatarEnergy will close its tenders to sell al-Shaheen, Marine and Land crude grades on Wednesday and award them by the end of Thursday.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 2 cents to 54 cents a barrel.
Total will receive one Upper Zakum crude cargo each from ExxonMobil and Unipec. ExxonMobil and Trafigura will deliver one Upper Zakum crude cargo each to PetroChina.
REFINERY
Glencore and Chandra Asri, gearing up to complete their takeover of Shell’s landmark Singapore refinery, have set up a new operating company and will earmark roughly 20% of output for the plant’s outgoing owner, sources familiar with the matter said.
The venture has lined up long-term crude supply from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) and is in talks with other producers for more, one of the sources said.
Glencore is expected to start supplying crude oil to Aster’s refinery from February, two of the sources said. One of them said the trading firm is already looking for cargoes arriving that month.
The Dangote Oil Refinery has capacity to produce winter diesel for the European market, an executive said on Tuesday, a further indication of its potential to disrupt the global refining market.
NEWS
Iran has made plans to sustain its oil production and export and is ready for possible oil restrictions from the U.S., Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Wednesday, according to the oil ministry’s news website Shana.
Japan Petroleum Exploration (Japex) 1662.T is looking to invest in the U.S. tight oil and gas sector, with the aim of becoming an operator, an executive said on Wednesday.
Kazakhstan’s biggest oil field Tengiz, operated by U.S. major Chevron CVX.N, has reduced oil output by around 21% on average since Oct. 26 to 62,600 metric tons per day, or 496,200 barrels per day, three industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan and Siyi Liu; Editing by Tasim Zahid