SINGAPORE: Excess supply in the Asia-Pacific crude market was reduced after Thailand's PTT bought Australian condensate in its monthly import tender, traders said on Monday.
PTT bought a cargo of Northwest Shelf condensate (NWS) in a tender for early-April arrival at its Rayong plant at around $3 a barrel below dated Brent, they said.
The seller could not be identified, but traders said PTT may have bought a cargo loading March 20-25 that was purchased by BP from Woodside at a discount of around $3.60 a barrel.
It was not clear if PTT had purchased other grades in its tender.
Three cargoes of NWS is planned to load in April, down from four the previous month. Shell will sell a cargo loading April 6-10, BP an April 15-19 cargo, while Woodside will be marketing a cargo loading April 24-28, according to a loading programme.
Supply would also be limited after Qatar's Tasweeq had told buyers it will not export any cargoes of low sulphur condensate (LSC) in April.
Tasweeq did not sell LSC in its previous two monthly tenders due to maintenance, but it remained unclear why no cargoes would be available April. The company usually sells two to three cargoes of LSC per month.
Limited supply and a strong naphtha market were expected to support spot differentials for regional condensates this month, traders said.
Still, one or two other March-loading NWS cargoes that were bought by trading firms had yet to reappear on the market and may weigh on differentials this month.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, narrowed 3 cents to $1.60 a barrel.
* TENDERS
PV Oil closed a tender on Monday to sell three 300,000-barrel cargoes of Chim Sao crude loading April 1-5, April 10-14 and April 21-25.
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