A jump in Brent's premium to Dubai quotes <DUB-EFS-1M> and robust demand in Asia are supporting spot differentials for Middle East and Russian crude.
Brent's premium to Dubai quotes rose 34 cents to $2.20 a barrel.
QATAR: Qatar Petroleum has sold three al-Shaheen crude cargoes loading in
June at the highest premiums in seven months, trade sources said.
The cargoes were sold at premiums ranging from $1.35 to $1.55 a barrel to Dubai quotes, they said.
End-users from Thailand and Japan and an oil major may have bought the cargoes, the sources said.
Two of the cargoes, loading on June 20-21 and June 25-26, were awarded via a tender, while one was sold based on private negotiations, they said.
The premiums are the highest since November-loading cargoes were sold in September at an average premium of $1.55 a barrel, according to Reuters data.
IRAQ: SOMO has sold 2 million barrels of Basra Heavy crude for loading on May 28-30 to Unipec at a premium just above $2 a barrel to its official selling price (OSP) via a tender, the highest premium in months. The cargo does not have a fixed destination.
OMAN: Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical has bought two June-loading Oman crude cargoes at about $1.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, traders said.
KOREA: KNOC issued two tenders seeking to swap Basra Light crude delivered from its tanks in second quarter in return for cargoes to be delivered in third quarter next year. Trafigura was heard to have won one of the tenders, a trader said.