SINGAPORE: Spot differentials in the Asia-Pacific crude market were steady to slightly lower on Thursday as refinery demand for March cargoes eased.
Spot premiums for Russian Sokol crude held steady after ONGC sold a March 18-24 cargo to BP at around $5 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, according to traders.
That would be equivalent to about $5.20-$5.30 a barrel against Dubai quotes, one trader said.
For Malaysian grades, a cargo of Kimanis loading on March 14-18 was sold at a lower premium compared with the previous month in a tender by Petroleum Brunei, traders said. The details of the tender were unclear.
U.S. refiner Par Pacific has imported a cargo of Malaysian Kikeh and Tembikai crude for its Honolulu plant, the first imports from the Southeast Asian country in a year.
The refiner bought 730,000 barrels of light sweet Malaysian crude, of which the Kikeh grade made up 630,000 barrels and the Tembikai grade the rest, ClipperData said.
It was the first time these grades had been delivered to a buyer in the United States, it said.
The United States last imported a cargo of crude oil from Malaysia in January last year, while prior imports date back to 2010, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed.
Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, or Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), held steady at around $3.30 a barrel.
REFINERY
Viva Energy said on Wednesday it planned to carry out maintenance at the Geelong refinery in Victoria, Australia, in the third quarter this year.
Indonesia's state-owned energy company Pertamina has cancelled a deal with JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp to upgrade its Balikpapan refinery because of concerns of high costs and the length of the project, Pertamina's chief executive said Wednesday.
MARKET NEWS
Qatar's state oil marketer Tasweeq has sold condensate for March loading at lower premiums following a drop in naphtha cracks, and as most of the Asian buyers completed purchases, trade sources said on Thursday.
Kuwait's emir has said operations and exports from oil fields jointly operated with Saudi Arabia will resume soon, local media reported on Thursday.
Islamic State threatened on Thursday to attack more Libyan oil facilities following an earlier attack on oil installations close to the Ras Lanuf terminal where at least two storage tanks from the Harouge Oil Operations company had been set on fire.
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