Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban slipped on Thursday, with most refiners having completed their purchases for May-loading supplies.

Brent crude futures remained at a discount of 17 cents a barrel to Dubai swaps for a second day, keeping the arbitrage window for Atlantic Basin crude to Asia wide open.

In tenders, Taiwan’s CPC has bought 2 million barrels of U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Midland crude for June delivery from Equinor at $2.70-$2.80 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said. The volume is lower than usual as the refiner has a scheduled maintenance in June, they added.

Looking ahead, Asia’s sour crude demand is set to rebound from late in the second quarter as refiners return from maintenance and Exxon Mobil completes a Singapore refinery upgrade that is poised to increase its heavy oil use, traders and analysts said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 12 cents to $1.46 a barrel.

PetroChina will deliver two May-loading Murban crude cargoes to Vitol following the deals.
Source: Reuters