SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific crude market was mixed on Tuesday as Alaskan crude was on its was to South Korea, adding to a glut of crude in the region.
South Korean refiner GS Caltex is set to receive 800,000 barrels of Alaskan crude on Oct. 10 after purchasing the oil on the spot market, a source at the company said. The deal marks the first U.S. export of Alaskan crude to South Korea in more than a decade.
The Suezmax Polar Discovery loaded at the Valdez terminal in Alaska late last week and was due to arrive next week in Yeosu, South Korea, according to shipping data available on Thomson Reuters Eikon.
Premiums for Russia's ESPO grade edged higher after Surgut sold four cargoes loading Nov. 11-14, Nov. 17-20, Nov. 22-25 and Nov. 25-28 in a tender at $1.70-$2.20 a barrel above Dubai quotes, traders said.
Rosneft also offered 700,000 barrels of Sokol crude loading Nov. 19-28 in a tender that closes Oct. 1 with bids valid until Oct. 3.
The tender may have been awarded to Shell, Mercuria and a Japanese firm, one trader said, although the deals could not be independently verified.
The sour grade was last sold by Rosneft at a premium of $1.30-$1.90 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
The result of a tender by Rosneft to sell five ESPO cargoes loading Nov. 2-5, Nov. 15-18, Nov. 20-23, Nov. 24-28 and Nov. 28-Dec. 1 is expected later this week.
Differentials for Vietnam's Ruby crude fell, after PV Oil sold two cargoes loading Nov. 7-13 and Nov. 22-26 in a tender at flat to a small discount to Dated Brent, traders said.
The grades was last traded at a premium of around $1 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, widened 23 cents to $1.25 a barrel.
Japan's Cosmo Oil Co plans to increase crude purchases in the spot market by up to 5 percent next year, aiming to boost its exposure to a rising supply of cheaper oil from other regions, a senior executive said.
Japan's fourth-largest refiner with a total capacity of 452,000 barrels per day typically buys 70 percent of its crude via annual contracts with Middle East producers and the rest from the spot market.
REFINERY
Japan's top oil refiner, JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp , will refine 990,000 barrels per day (4.88 million kilolitres) of crude oil in October for domestic consumption, the refiner said on Tuesday, down 1 percent on the year, hit by sluggish demand.
MARKET NEWS
Asian buyers imported less than 1 million barrels per day of Iranian crude for the first time this year in August as China's buys hit the lowest since the easing of Western sanctions, although intake was still up 6.4 percent from a year ago.
Oil pricing agency Platts plans to lengthen the loading period of North Sea crude cargoes it uses in its dated Brent oil assessment, its latest adjustment to strengthen the global oil benchmark.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.