SINGAPORE: Light sour Murban crude slipped into a discount, while Das held at parity in the Middle East crude market on Tuesday as demand for January loading cargoes remained weak in Asia.
Japanese refiner Fuji Oil bought a cargo at a discount to its official selling price (OSP), traders said. The discount was at 10-15 cents a barrel, one of them said. The deal could not be independently verified.
On the Platts window, BP sold a Das cargo to Glencore at parity to its OSP, a trader said.
"The market is still under pressure," a second trader said. "Prompt margins may have improved, but what you're buying is January loading crude which will only arrive in February."
Traders are also waiting for the results of another tender by Formosa Petrochemical. The Taiwanese refiner has sought medium to heavy sour crude such as Al-Shaheen, Oman, Upper Zakum, Qatar Marine and Banoco Arab Medium in the tender that closed on Tuesday.
TENDERS
Sakhalin Energy offered 730,000 barrels of Vityaz for loading on Jan. 29-Feb. 5 in a tender to close on Nov. 20. Bids will remain valid until a day later. The Russian producer could sell another three cargoes for loading in February after the tender, traders said.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for January settled at $77.27, up 93 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at 3 cents a barrel below Dubai swaps, compared with a discount of 6 cents in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
Halliburton Co said on Monday it would buy Baker Hughes Inc for about $35 billion in cash and stock, creating an oilfield services behemoth to take on market leader Schlumberger NV as customers curb spending on falling oil prices.
Iraqi security forces entered the country's largest refinery for the first time on Tuesday after months of battling Islamic State militants who had surrounded it, a police colonel and state television said.
The UAE oil minister said on Tuesday the Gulf Arab state was committed to supplying the market with its crude needs and that the OPEC member did not have a target for oil prices.
The Singapore arm of bankrupt Danish shipping fuel trader OW Bunker will meet with its liquidator KPMG in early December to discuss the firm's outstanding debt, which totals almost $1.5 billion globally.
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