SINGAPORE: Asia-Pacific crude market held firm on Wednesday, supported by firm refining margins and a weaker Brent benchmark against Dubai.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, was at $1.20 a barrel for May, down close to $1 from the start of the month.
The prospect of tighter Vietnamese supply also supported sentiment and drove up Te Giac Trang (TGT) crude's premium, although the rise was limited by the addition of two cargoes to the May programme.
Vietnam's sole refinery Dung Quat had bought 1.1 million barrels of Chim Sao and Thang Long that were offered to the spot market, traders said.
Part of this volume was replaced after PV Oil issued tenders to sell 600,000 barrels of Bach Ho and 250,000 barrels of Song Doc, traders said. But differences in the oil's quality may mean that buyers will have to look elsewhere for Chim Sao's replacement, they said.
PV Oil sold 310,000 barrels of TGT crude at $3-$3.50 a barrel above dated Brent for May 27-31 loading to a trader, sources said.
TENDERS
Russia's Surgutneftegaz will close a tender on Tuesday to sell three ESPO cargoes for loading on May 10-14, 14-18 and 19-23.
MARKET NEWS
BP is planning maintenance at Britain's Sullom Voe oil terminal in the second half of June, a company spokesman said, the outlet for Brent exports but has no plan to shut Forties oil pipeline at the same time. The grades underpinned global Brent benchmark.
Iraq, Venezuela, Russia and Kazakhstan all saw their oil partially replaced by Saudi crude in Asia, the United States and even Europe, with its lackluster demand, as traders said the kingdom offered customers more oil, and more cheaply.
Activity in China's factory sector dipped to a 11-month low in March as new orders shrank, a private survey showed, signalling persistent weakness in the world's second-largest economy that will likely fuel calls for more policy easing to support growth.
Angola's Saturno oil output restarted over the weekend, one week after a power loss at an offshore facility forced it to shut down, traders said on Monday.
Vietnam will stop using diesel fuel oil with high sulphur content from January 2016 to help protect the environment, the government said.
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