SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific crude market held steady on Tuesday with traders awaiting the results of a few tenders to gauge market direction for March-loading cargoes.
In lack of obvious supply or demand triggers, March spot differentials were expected to be largely in line with the previous month.
PV Oil offered 300,000 barrels of Te Giac Trang loading over March 27-31 in a tender that closes on Jan. 16. The marketing arm of PetroVietNam also offered 200,000-500,000 barrels of Su Tu Den for March-loading in a tender that closes on Jan. 14.
A third tender by PV Oil to sell three 300,000-barrel cargoes of Chim Sao loading over March 2-6, March 13-17 and March 24-28 closed on Monday. Bids are valid until Jan. 16.
Medium sweet Vietnamese grades, often used for direct-burning by Japanese utilities, found some support last month by winter heating demand.
A February Kikeh cargo may have been sold at $4.80-$5.30 a barrel above dated Brent to an oil major, said a trader. The seller's identity was not clear and the deal could not be independently verified.
Last month, Kikeh fetched a premium of just over $5 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
OSP
State oil firm Petronas has set the price factor for Malaysian Crude Oil (MCO) for January at $5.30 per barrel, up 50 cents from the previous month, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.
MARKET NEWS
China imported a record 7.15 million barrels of crude oil a day (bpd) in December, customs data showed on Tuesday, as the world's second largest oil consumer took advantage of low oil prices to fill its strategic reserves.
OPEC won't change its oil production strategy and any sudden rebound of prices is unlikely, United Arab Emirates oil minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui said on Tuesday.
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