SINGAPORE: Spot premiums for July-loading Russian ESPO crude held steady on Monday, capped by a rebound in exports similar to an all-time high seen in May.
Russia plans to export 28 cargoes, or about 2.8 million tonnes, from the Pacific port of Kozmino in July, trade sources said, after pipeline maintenance cut exports in the previous month.
Surgutneftegaz sold on Friday a cargo loading on July 8-12 at $2.30-$2.40 a barrel above Dubai quotes and a July 11-15 cargo at a premium of about $2.60 a barrel to unknown buyers, traders said.
The producer will close on Tuesday a tender to sell four cargoes loading on July 15-19, 19-23, 24-28 and 26-30.
Gazprom Neft will also close a tender on Tuesday to sell a cargo loading on July 16-19.
Crude imports in eastern Shandong province, the hub for China's independent refineries, may resume their upward rise as a group of Chinese companies are building new pipeline and storage facilities to provide much-needed infrastructure.
Still, the limited capacity of teapots for handling naphtha after processing ESPO may cap their demand for the Russian crude.
Scheduled maintenance at Russia's Sakhalin-1 oilfields, operated by Exxon Mobil, is expected to reduce Sokol crude exports by more than half in August, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.
Maintenance work at the fields is expected to take about two-and-a-half weeks and cut exports by up to six 700,000-barrel cargoes, they said. Sokol exports each month are at about 7 million barrels or 10 cargoes.
Condensate remained depressed by weak naphtha cracks. Petronas sold 250,000 barrels of Muda condensate for loading on July 20-26 to an oil major at about $1.50 a barrel above dated Brent, down nearly $1 from the previous month.
The 350,000-barrel Cakerawala condensate cargo loading on July 19-28 went to PTT for a second straight month.
REFINERY
Japan's JX Holdings Inc plans to refine 769,452 barrels of crude in June, down 6 percent from the same month last year, a spokesman said on Monday.
MARKET NEWS
Thailand's largest energy firm PTT Pcl will look at buying domestic assets put up for sale by major oil and gas firms hit by declines in global commodity prices, Chief Executive Officer Tevin Vongvanich said on Friday.
Nigeria's government will continue a crackdown on militants attacking oil pipelines in the Delta but also talk to leaders in the region to address their grievances, President Muhammadu Buhari said on Sunday.
France's fuel supply crisis is not yet over, the transport minister warned on Saturday, while Prime Minister Manuel Valls was quoted as saying he was ready to ride out protests at ports and fuel depots by strikers opposed to labour reform plans.
India's ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to make a foray into oil trading and has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, a source privy to the agreement said.
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