SINGAPORE: January spot premiums for Vietnam's Ruby crude edged higher on stronger demand as a slump in the Asia-Pacific crude market appeared to have bottomed, traders said on Thursday.
PV Oil, the marketing arm of PetroVietnam, sold two 300,000-barrel cargoes of Ruby loading Jan. 8-14 and Jan. 22-28 to Vitol and SK Energy at 50-70 cents a barrel above dated Brent. The deals could not be independently verified.
The medium sweet grade was last month sold at between a discount of 20 cents a barrel and a small premium, according to Reuters data.
Brent's premium to Dubai swaps rose to a 3-1/2 month high, making Asia-Pacific grades less attractive compared to Middle East grades.
The spread began widening last month after hovering between $1 and $1.40 since mid-August. On Thursday, Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) widened 23 cents to $2.05 a barrel.
The premium for Russia's Sokol held steady after Rosneft sold three cargoes in a tender at around $3.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes or slightly higher.
Rosneft had offered four cargoes loading Jan. 2-11, Jan. 8-17, Jan. 22-31 and Jan. 26-Feb. 4 in the tender, but awarded only three cargoes to Statoil, a trading firm and a Japanese refiner, traders said.
It was unclear which of the four cargoes was not awarded and whether it would be offered in a new tender.
MARKET NEWS
Iran leased oil storage at Dalian port in China earlier this year and has made at least two deliveries of crude from there to India and one to South Korea, according to sources with knowledge of the matter.
Indian refiners on Thursday paid $400 million to Iran ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline of the interim deal with six world powers that allows Tehran to recover part of its overseas frozen oil revenues, two industry source privy to the development said.
Japanese refiners are planning to cut crude distillation capacities to meet a new government directive, but analysts say the moves will not forestall the need for them to consolidate at some point over the next several years.
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