SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific crude market strengthened on Tuesday, as robust middle distillate margins boosted demand in the region.
PV Oil sold 500,000 barrels of Su Tu Den due to load in March to Vitol at $1.2-$1.5 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said. Last month, the medium sweet grade fetched a premium of around $1 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
Complex refining margins in Singapore averaged $6.74 a barrel in the last 15 days, up from $6.14 in December.
More detail emerged on another tender by PV Oil to March-loading Chim Sao crude. Vitol purchased three 300,000-barrel cargoes with prices ranging from $2.70 a barrel to $3 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, narrowed 24 cents to $1.46 a barrel, the lowest since mid-October last year.
Russia's Rosneft has started oil production at the Arkutun-Dagi field, which is expected to produce 4.5 million tonnes of oil a year (90,000 barrels per day) at peak production, the company said.
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China's implied oil demand grew 3 percent in 2014 as China added refinery capacity and motor fuel use rose, with crude throughput and imports picking up steam in the fourth quarter and ending at records in December.
A crude oil pipeline and a deep sea port meant to secure an alternative route for Chinese imports overland through Myanmar are set to open at the end of January, but an affiliated refinery in China is months away from completion, sources said.
Iran sees no sign of a shift within OPEC towards action to support oil prices, its oil minister said, adding its oil industry could ride out a further price slump to $25 a barrel.
Libyan armed factions accused each other on Monday of launching new attacks near the country's largest oil port, Es Sider.
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