Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai rose on Thursday after Vitol received another two Upper Zakum cargoes, bringing its tally this month to 10 cargoes.
PetroChina has delivered nine cargoes to Vitol so far, and the remaining one is from Hengli Petrochemical, trade sources said, following deals on the Dubai window.
Meanwhile traders are awaiting results of QatarEnergy’s tenders. The producer is offering five al-Shaheen crude cargoes for loading on May 1-2, 14-15, 15-16, 27-28 and 28-29.
For regional grades, PV Oil has awarded two Rang Dong crude cargoes for May loading to the Binh Son refinery while a tender to sell one cargo of Chim Sao crude is under way.
RUSSIAN CRUDE
India’s Russian oil imports recovered in March, returning to near usual levels after a three-month decline, as non-sanctioned vessels were delivering cargoes, while some supplies were diverted from Turkey, according to five trade sources and shipping data.
In March, India’s imports of Russian oil, mainly Urals crude, are back at 1.54 million barrels per day (bpd), after falling to 1.1 million to 1.2 million bpd in the previous three months due to concerns about sanctions, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 19 cents to $1.34 a barrel.
REFINERIES
Russia’s offline primary oil refining capacity in March was revised up 49.7% from the initial plan for this month to 2.96 million metric tons, according to Reuters calculations based on data from industry sources, amid drone attacks.
NEWS
OPEC said on Wednesday that Kazakhstan led a sizeable jump in February crude output by the wider OPEC+, highlighting a challenge for the producer group in enforcing adherence to agreed output targets.
Kazakhstan will quickly adjust its oil output in order to get back in line with its OPEC+ quota after exceeding the limit in February, the Energy Ministry said on Wednesday.
Canada could impose non-tariff measures such as restricting its oil exports to the United States or levying export duties on products if a trade dispute with the U.S. escalates further, Canada’s energy minister Jonathan Wilkinson said on Tuesday.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose and fuel inventories fell last week as seasonal refinery maintenance season ticked along, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
Vopak VPK on Thursday doubled the investment target for growing its gas and industrial footprint, committing another 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) into it through 2030.
Venezuela’s opposition has drafted a broad proposal for energy sector reform that would allow participation of international companies, a bid to attract support from Big Oil and from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, according to sources and a summary of the proposal seen by Reuters.
Source: Reuters