SINGAPORE: Strong demand from PetroChina supported the cash Dubai price in the Middle East crude market on Wednesday.
PetroChina snapped up 41 June Dubai partials from Shell and Unipec on the first day of trading. The deals led to the deliveries of two Upper Zakum cargoes to Chinaoil, a trader said.
Trade was otherwise muted as industry players await monthly prices from Gulf producers which are mostly expected to raise them after most May-loading cargoes traded in premiums.
Five of the six refiners and traders Reuters spoke to expect the official selling price (OSP) for flagship Arab Light crude to rise by at least 20 cents a barrel after Dubai strengthened in March.
"If they raise more than that, their grades would not look that attractive," a trader with a North Asian refiner said.
Arab Extra Light could receive a boost from stronger naphtha cracks , although weaker fuel oil cracks in March are likely to cap price hikes for medium and heavy grades, traders said.
ADNOC and Qatar could raise the retroactive March OSP differentials for their grades to Dubai by 20-30 cents, in line with spot deals, they said.
TENDERS
Traders have emerged as buyers for most of the Russian cargoes in May sold by Rosneft and Surgutneftegas via tenders amid a dearth of demand from end users.
Rosneft has sold one of the three ESPO crude cargoes via a tender at $1.9-$2 a barrel above Dubai quotes for May 8-11 loading to Glencore, traders said. The premium was at the low end of the $1.90-$2.50 range for May-loading cargoes that have been sold so far due to increased supply in April and May.
The Russian producer re-issued a tender to sell the remaining two cargoes to load on May 25-28 and May 29-June 1.
Surgutneftegas has sold the two cargoes to load on May 23-26 and 27-30 to Trafigura and Vitol at premiums of $2.10-$2.20, a trader said.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for June settled at $53.61 a barrel, down 13 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at 87 cents below Dubai swaps.
Dubai crude, as quoted by price-reporting agency Platts, averaged $54.658 a barrel for March, down $0.78 from the previous month, traders said.
REFINERY
Japan's Showa Shell Sekiyu KK said it would refine 3 percent less crude for domestic consumption in the second quarter than the same period in 2014.
India's Essar Oil will defer planned maintenance at its Vadinar refinery in western Gujarat state by about two months to July-August, trade sources said.
MARKET NEWS
Six world powers and Iran missed a Tuesday deadline to reach an outline accord reining in Tehran's nuclear programme, extending talks into an extra day as they edged toward a deal but failed to agree crucial details such as the lifting of UN sanctions.
OPEC oil supply has jumped in March to its highest since October as Iraq's exports rebounded after bad weather and Saudi Arabia pumped at close to record rates, a Reuters survey found, a sign key members are sticking to their effort to regain market share.
A backlog of over 30 oil tankers has built up outside the Iraqi port of Basra and shippers face lengthy delays of up to three weeks to load oil because of bad weather and possible oil quality issues, shipping industry sources said.
A possible surge in Iranian oil exports from an end to sanctions will reboot a struggle between top Middle East producers for Asian buyers, with Iraq looking the most vulnerable.
West African crude oil exports to Asia are set to rise by 30 percent to 2.34 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, up from 1.78 million bpd initially planned for March, according to a Reuters survey of traders and ship-tracking data on Tuesday.
Libya two biggest oil ports, Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, will be able to open once security checks are made as forces backing the country's rival government have left the area after months of fighting, a National Oil Company (NOC) official said.
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