SINGAPORE: Russian Pacific grades were supported in the Asia-Pacific crude market on Wednesday by strong refinery demand and tighter supply of alternative Middle East grades.
Spot differentials for Russia's Sokol crude held steady from last month, after Rosneft sold three June-loading cargoes at around $4 a barrel above Dubai quotes in a tender, traders said.
Vitol and Lukoil bought a Sokol cargo each loading June 10-19 and June 21-30 at a premium of slightly above $4 a barrel, while an unnamed trading firm bought a May 31-June 9 cargo at around $3.90 a barrel, they said.
A tender by ONGC to sell a June 15-21 Sokol cargo closes on Thursday.
The spot differential for Russia's ESPO blend rebounded by at least 20 percent, as the premium for ADNOC's rival grade Murban hit a 19-month high this week due to tightened supply. Surgutneftegaz sold a May 31-June 5 cargo at a premium of more than $3 a barrel to Dubai quotes, traders said.
The Russian pipeline operator plans to expand crude oil storage capacity in the Far East port of Kozmino by 2017, allowing for an increase in exports of ESPO crude to Asian markets, the company said earlier this month.
Two 50,000 cubic metre tanks will be put into operation in 2017, increasing total storage capacity to 600,000 cubic metres, Transneft said.
MARKET NEWS
China's implied oil demand in March rose 7.6 percent from a year ago, as refinery throughput hit a record high due to continued strength in gasoline and kerosene consumption in the world's top energy consumer.
South Korea's imports of Iranian crude doubled in March from a year earlier but the country's oil shipments from the OPEC country in the first quarter of this year fell 16 percent year- on-year to meet international sanction requirements.
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