Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban nudged higher on Monday, with traders eyeing more deals this week.
Thai refiner IRPC and Taiwanese refiner CPC will close on Monday their tenders seeking October-loading sour crude.
OSP
Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) for its light crude oil grade for Asian buyers at $2.35 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average for September, one source with knowledge of the matter said.
The September price was higher than a $2.10 premium in the previous month.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 5 cents to 84 cents a barrel.
ExxonMobil will deliver an October-loading Upper Zakum crude cargo to Gunvor following the deals.
REFINERY
Shares in Australia’s Ampol ALD.AX hit a 10-month low on Monday after the fuel retailer posted a weaker-than-expected half-year profit, hurt by disrupted production at its Lytton refinery in Queensland and softer global third-party sales.
Shell Singapore SHEL.L has shut one crude distillation unit (CDU) and other facilities at its refinery on Bukom island for a scheduled overhaul, three sources close to the matter said.
The maintenance is likely to end in the first half of October, they said. The oil major had shut its naphtha hydrotreater at the same site in July, one of the sources added.
NEWS
China’s gasoline exports fell 35.7% in July from a year earlier, customs data showed on Sunday, as refiners lowered crude runs and held back from shipments due to weakening profit margins.
Chinese biodiesel producers are seeking new outlets in Asia for their exports and exploring producing other biofuels as supply to the European Union, their biggest buyer, dries up ahead of anti-dumping tariffs, biofuel executives and analysts said.
Norway’s Equinor EQNR.OL shut down production at its Gullfaks C platform in the North Sea on Sunday and evacuated some workers as a precaution following a well incident, a company spokesman said.
Marine fuel sales at the United Arab Emirates’ Fujairah recovered to a three-month high in July, latest data showed.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Shreya Biswas)