SINGAPORE: Differentials for Vietnam's Bach Ho improved in the Asia-Pacific crude market as higher refining margins boosted demand.
PV Oil sold 600,000 barrels of Bach Ho crude loading in February to Mitsubishi's PetroDiamond at around $1 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said.
PetroVietnam's marketing unit last sold Bach Ho crude for December-loading at a discount of around $1 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
The grade has mostly been refined at Vietnam's Dung Quat refinery, but PetroVietnam is seeking to import cheaper grades for domestic refining, and ship domestic grades such as Bach Ho to export markets.
The Pacific port of Kozmino will ship a total of 24.9 million tonnes of ESPO crude oil (500,000 barrels per day) this year, up 17 percent from 2013, oil pipeline monopoly Transneft said on Tuesday.
It added that as of now, the largest crude buyers from Kozmino this year were Japan with 8.9 million tonnes, China with 5.9 million tonnes and South Korea with 3.6 million tonnes.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, was unchanged at $1.80 a barrel.
MARKET NEWS
Libya's oil output has shrunk further after blazing oil tanks at a major terminal helped push world oil prices higher and put a strain on the country's dollar currency reserves.
China's largest oil field is expected to cut production by 1.5 million tonnes, or 10.95 million barrels, in 2015, Chinese state media reported on Tuesday, as a slump in oil prices puts pressure on margins for refining crude from the ageing field.
Oil prices have halved this year, dragging on firms involved in Asian energy projects as costs remain high amid dwindling revenues, yet equity analysts continue to have a largely positive industry outlook.
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