Excess crude supply weighed heavily on the market, giving buyers the upper hand in November negotiations. A recovery in refining margins in Asia failed to lift prices.
Ahead of Tasweeq's tender, Maersk and Unipec sold five cargoes of al-Shaheen at discounts between $2 and $2.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes, wider than the 30 cents to $2.30 a barrel discount range last month.
SK Energy and TonenGeneral each bought two cargoes while Chevron purchased one, traders said.
Tasweeq is expected to award its tender of five cargoes later on Tuesday, likely at discounts between $2.20 and $2.70 a barrel, a trader said.
Firm demand for Murban has provided support for its differential, although it remained at a discount.
ExxonMobil sold a cargo to Glencore at a discount of 45-50 cents a barrel to its OSP while Brightoil purchased one from Itochu at a similar level. Both cargoes are likely to be delivered to Thailand, traders said.
TENDERS
Rosneft did not award a tender offering ESPO for loading on Oct. 12-13 as it received only one low bid at 90 cents a barrel above Dubai quotes, traders said. The Russian producer is likely to re-issue the tender.
Surgutneftegas will close a tender later on Tuesday to sell an ESPO loading on Oct. 31-Nov. 5.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for November settled at $95.51, up 15 cents, at 0830 GMT. This put DME Oman at 94 cents a barrel below Dubai swaps against a 92 cent discount in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tanker earnings on the major Middle East route fell to their lowest in nearly three months as a slowdown in business in recent days battered rate sentiment.
Exports of seaborne Russian Urals and ESPO crude oil blends were seen declining by 6.2 percent to 50.17 million tonnes in the last three months of the year from the previous quarter, traders said on Monday, citing a quarterly loading schedule.
Thai energy company PTT has joined with Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer, to submit a proposal to the Vietnamese government to build a $22 billion refinery and petrochemical complex in Vietnam, a senior PTT official said.
Investors are losing interest in Brazil's oil industry as the country's energy policies raise costs, reduce efficiency and increase risk, Brazil's oil industry association, the IBP, said.