SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude market held steady on Wednesday as buyers stayed on the sidelines due to lacklustre demand and low refining margins.
Chinaoil sold a Dubai partial to Vitol on the Platts window at $101.20 a barrel, while there was little activity in the physical market.
"Some buyers may wait and hope the market weakens further, but it won't," said a trader with an Asian refiner.
"If you're buying at the beginning (of the trading window), there's no need to hurry. But if the market is no longer going lower, then it's time to cover your needs," the trader said.
A few majors still held Abu Dhabi grades and Banoco Arab Medium, although no deals were heard done.
"I don't think there's much change in demand compared to last month, but the point is there's just too much oil around," another trader said.
Focus will shift to Russia's ESPO blend with tenders this week by Rosneft and Surgut for a total of eight cargoes. Premiums for the grade hit four-year lows earlier this month, after a record 25 cargoes were sold for export in September following a fire at a refinery.
The grade could find some support, as 21 cargoes are planned for export from Kozmino, a preliminary loading schedule showed.
Premiums for Russia's Vityaz crude fell further, after Sakhalin Energy sold two cargoes of the light sweet grade for October-loading at around $1.30 a barrel and $1.80 a barrel, respectively, above Dubai quotes.
The deals were done after the grade had fetched a premium of around $2.50 a barrel in a tender for a cargo loading mid-October.
A higher than usual API of around 48 for the two cheaper cargoes may have affected values of the grade, a trader said. The quality change was due to planned maintenance on the integrated oil and gas project.
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