The benchmark flipped into a premium of about 40 cents against swaps after Shell bought July Dubai partials from Chinaoil at $61.10 a barrel, traders said. DME Oman also strengthened to a premium against Dubai swaps.
The July-September spread narrowed to parity after Unipec bought a September partial from Trafigura at $61.10 a barrel.
The narrower spread indicates a stronger Dubai market which is likely to prompt Middle East crude producers such as Saudi Aramco to raise their official selling prices (OSPs) next month.
Separately, Russian ESPO premiums held steady from previous deals, although there were signs of weaker demand for prompt cargoes as Rosneft and Surgutneftegas have not awarded the first cargoes in their tenders, traders said.
Rosneft sold a July 29-Aug. 1 ESPO cargo at about $2.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes and it has re-issued a tender for the July 14-18 cargo, they said.
Surgutneftegas sold three of four cargoes at premiums of $2.15-$2.45 a barrel, they said. These cargoes will load on July 19-23, 23-27 and 26-30, and the July 14-18 cargo was not awarded, traders said.
Japan's JX bought ESPO in Surgut's tender, a trader said, although the identities of other buyers remain sketchy.
Premiums for Russian Sokol also weakened to around $3.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes after Rosneft sold another two July-loading cargoes via a second tender. The producer had sold two cargoes in the first tender at premiums of $4-$4.20 a barrel.
Sokol exports have risen to 10 cargoes in July, a trader said, in line with forecasts of higher production at new fields in Sakhalin-1.
South Korea's SK Energy International will import two cargoes of US condensate over the next two months and is also looking at shipments of the light crude from Iran as part of efforts to diversify its sourcing, its top executive said.
For the June and July imports, SK Energy has already bought two US condensate cargoes from Mitsui, traders said. Reuters shipping data shows one loaded on May 2 onboard tanker Hafnia Australia and is expected to arrive at Ulsan in early June.
TENDER
India's MRPL has bought 600,000 barrels of Escalante from Glencore for loading in the first half of July. The refiner is seeking 600,000 barrels of sour crude to load in the same period in a separate tender to close on June 3 with bids valid until June 5.
DME OMAN
DME Oman for July settled at $61.02 a barrel, down $1.17, at 0830 GMT. This puts DME Oman at a premium of $0.32 a barrel to Dubai swaps against a discount of $0.28 in the previous session.
MARKET NEWS
A jointly-operated onshore oilfield between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain shut until difficulties to operate there are resolved, a spokeswoman for US oil major Chevron said on Wednesday.
The North American oil boom is proving resilient despite low oil prices, producer group OPEC said in its biggest and most detailed report this year, suggesting the global oil glut could persist for another two years.
The US shale oil boom is turning global crude pricing on its head with the historical notion that light grades shall be priced at a premium to heavy ones quickly disappearing, according to predictions from producer group OPEC.
Indonesia's Pertamina signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with state port firm Pelindo II and shipping firm ASDP to build a fuel import terminal in Kalibaru, State Owned Enterprise Minister Rini Soemarno said on Thursday.