SINGAPORE: Cash Dubai weakened in the Middle East crude market on Monday as selling by Chinaoil continued.
Chinaoil sold 13 April partials to Shell and Trafigura at $54.80-$54.83 a barrel on the window, a trader said. That puts cash Dubai at around $2.30 a barrel below Dubai swaps, down from a discount of about $2 in the previous session.
Saudi Aramco and other Gulf producers have lowered their official selling prices (OSP) this month in line with a weakening Dubai market since the end of 2014 and the likely seasonal dip in Asian import requirements going into the second quarter.
The contango in the Dubai swaps market deepened further in the front months on Monday.
Qatar will not export any low sulphur condensate (LSC) in April, traders said. Tasweeq did not sell any LSC cargoes in its previous two monthly tenders due to maintenance, but was expected to resume exports in April.
It was unclear why Tasweeq would not export LSC in April. The company normally sells two to three cargoes per month.
As oil traders flock to London for the International Petroleum Week, the market presents near perfect conditions, mimicking the year after the 2008 oil crash when some booked their best profits in history.
"I haven't been more positive about trading conditions since 2009," said Torbjorn Tornqvist, head of trading house Gunvor.
"I see contango in the market, I see the cost of funding going down, I see the dollar strengthening, I see strong refining margins."
DME OMAN
DME Oman for April settled at $55.84 a barrel, up 18 cents, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at $1.26 a barrel below Dubai swaps against a discount of $1.06 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
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South Korean refiner S-Oil Corp has sold 1.2 trillion won ($1.09 billion) of oil products to a trading arm of its top shareholder, Saudi Aramco, as the Middle East oil giant boosts its trading clout in Asia.
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