SINGAPORE: The Asia Pacific crude oil market remained steady on Tuesday as a narrow Brent-Dubai price spread is expected to make regional crude grades more attractive to refiners, trade sources said.
VIETNAM
Vietnam’s PV Oil has offered two cargoes of 300,000 barrels each of Chim Sao crude oil for loading over Oct. 4 to 8 and Oct. 18 to 22. The tender closes on Aug. 14 and is valid until Aug. 21.
PV Oil last sold a Chim Sao cargo for loading over Sept. 6 to 10 to Repsol at above $3 a barrel to dated Brent and a Sept. 20 to 24 loading cargo to Unipec at below $3 a barrel to dated Brent, traders have said.
BRENT-DUBAI EFS
Brent’s premium to Dubai swaps was at $1.80 per barrel, up 8 cents for October.
The spread, which has narrowed from above $4 a barrel in late April, is expected to make regional grades more attractive to refiners for October-loading cargoes, traders said.
NEWS
The United States wants as many countries as possible to cut their imports of Iranian oil to zero, a senior US administration official said on Monday in a telephone press briefing.
Global commodities trader Trafigura has applied to build a deep water port in Texas, United States, that would be able to load supertankers, the company said on Monday, supplying badly needed oil export infrastructure to the country.
Sri Lanka’s Ceylon Petroleum Corp is seeking to buy an alternative to its usual purchases of Murban crude oil, a tender document showed on Tuesday.
South Korea will cut residential electricity charges by 276.1 billion won ($245 million) over July and August to ease the burden on households cranking up their air conditioners during a searing heatwave.
Operations at Royal Dutch Shell’s Pulau Bukom site in Singapore, which includes an oil refinery and petrochemical plant, are returning to normal after an “external utility issue,” a Shell spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.
For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.
Source: Brecorder
