SINGAPORE: The Middle East crude benchmarks largely held steady on Monday, while medium grades stayed under pressure with March-loading Upper Zakum crude sold at its lowest premium in six months in a CPC tender.
TENDERS: Taiwanese refiner CPC Corp bought 4.5 million barrels of crude in its monthly tenders to load in March or arrive at its refineries in April, trade sources said.
The sweet crude purchases include 2 million barrels each of US WTI Midland and Azeri Light, they said.
The refiner is in talks to buy another 1 million barrels Brazilian Iracema crude.
Separately, CPC bought 500,000 barrels of Upper Zakum crude on Dubai basis which is equivalent to a small premium to its OSP.
MEDIUM GRADES: Some Middle East crude oil grades have fallen into discounts against their benchmarks for sales to Asia in March, a sign of a weakening market, as fuel oil margins have declined, curbing refiners' appetites for the oil, multiple trade sources said.
March-loading Qatar Marine crude was valued at a discount of about 20 cents a barrel below its official selling price (OSP), the traders said. That is down from a premium of between 20 cents and 30 cents for February cargoes.
March-loading Banoco Arab Medium was valued at a discount of about 30 cents a barrel to its OSP, similar to the previous month, the traders said. January-loading cargoes traded at discounts of as low as 80 cents a barrel last month, they said.
Iraq's Basra Light for February loading was valued at a discount to its OSP, the fifth month in a row it was at a discount, the traders said.
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