THAILAND
Thailand's state-owned PTT bought an Algerian Saharan Blend crude oil cargo and a Gorgon condensate cargo for its April-May sweet crude and condensate tender, traders said.
The company was buying on behalf of IRPC.
PTT paid a premium of about $2.50 a barrel to dated Brent for the Saharan Blend crude oil cargo on a delivered basis, they said.
It also paid below market rates for the Gorgon condensate cargo, one of them said. The cargoes are for delivery over April 20 to May 10.
VIETNAM
Vietnam's PV Oil could have cancelled a tender offering Ruby crude for April and deferred the loading of the cargo for May instead, traders said.
This could be due to lower-than-expected bids, one trader said, though this could not immediately be confirmed.
BRENT-DUBAI EFS
Brent's premium to Dubai swaps <DUB-EFS-1M> was at $3.35 per barrel, down 15 cents for May.
NEWS
China's refined oil inventory in January rose to a 10-month high, led by record stocks of gasoline and kerosene, data from the official Xinhua news agency showed on Tuesday.
US shale oil output is set to surge over the next five years, stealing market share from OPEC producers and moving the United States, once the world's top oil importer, closer to self sufficiency, the International Energy Agency said on Monday.
Motiva Enterprises halted the restart of the large crude distillation unit at the biggest US refinery, its 603,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, plant, on Monday afternoon, said two sources familiar with plant operations.