Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban all slipped slightly as demand signals remained unclear and leaning on the weak side, though some support in the West in the meantime could curb near-term regional weakness.

Demand-wise, traders were looking at how the new greenfield refinery Yulong will operate in the coming weeks, which could directly boost China’s crude runs. They had already bought crude for delivery up to December and should have ample stocks to keep up with operations, one source said.

In the rest of Asia, talks of some refiners cutting runs remained prevalent – given sluggish refining margins performance last two weeks and dismal refined fuels demand. DUB-SIN-REF

Also, at least two refiners have or were going to shut some of their crude units for scheduled maintenance now.

The Brent-Dubai swap was little changed at around $2.10 a barrel, down 2 cents from the previous trading session.

Arbitrage window from the West to Asia remained mostly uneconomical for tradeflows, some analysts said, adding that volumes are not really needed in Asia for the time being unless crude runs rebound.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 7 cents to $1.82 a barrel.

NEWS

– India’s monthly oil imports from Russia fell by 18.3% to about 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in August from the previous month due to lower crude processing by some refiners, tanker data obtained from trade sources showed.

– Shell SHEL.L said on Sunday that it would shut production at its Stones and Appomattox facilities in the Gulf of Mexico as a precautionary measure in response to a tropical disturbance.

– China is planning a tax revamp that would raise costs for imported fuel oil, prompting independent refiners to slow purchases in another blow to a sector reeling from thin processing margins amid faltering demand, industry sources said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)