SINGAPORE: Middle Eastern crude held steady on Thursday as refiners and traders awaited the latest official selling prices (OSPs), with Japan's offer to sell oil from its strategic reserves marking the only key activity in the market.
Asian buyers are awaiting OSPs from top producers to finalise their loading plans for August and gauge the demand outlook for the month.
The OSPs so far, including those by top exporter Saudi Arabia, have come at higher levels than a month earlier, indicating trade for August may start at discounted levels.
Producers look set to raise their official prices as they see a revival in demand with refiners ramping up output to meet peak summer season demand.
TENDERS
Japan is offering to sell about 300,000 kilolitres, or 1.89 million barrels, of heavy sour Khafji crude from the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserves, aiming to replace it with other grades, a tender document from the trade ministry showed on Thursday.
Bids for the crude shipments, slated for loading sometime between July 20 and Sept. 30, are to be opened on June 23, with the tender closing the same day.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for August settled at $104.57 a barrel, down $1.17, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at $1.47 a barrel above Dubai swaps, down from a premium of $1.66 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
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