Middle East Crude

In trade for December-loading Dubai, Malaysia's sate-owned Petronas seemed to have bought one cargo this week. The price was apparently linked to the OSP which The Dubai Department of Petroleum Affairs (DPA) settled. Regarding December-loading Dubai, it was widely believed that several companies such as United Petroleum & Chemicals Co (UNIPEC) and ENEOS held demand. Under such circumstances, Petronas was said to have rushed into discussions. On the supply side, the DPA apparently allocated one cargo each of December-loading Dubai to Briton's BP, US Occidental Petroleum and PetroChina. In trade for December-loading Qatari condensates, Qatar Energy (QE) was likely to have limited room to sell spot cargoes. QE would issue a December-loading sell tender soon. Through the tender, QE was likely to sell two or three cargoes of L.S.C. and D.F.C. in total although the company might skip selling L.S.C. similar to November-loading.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

The CFR Northeast Asia market of US WTI was quoted at premiums of $5.25-5.35 to Dubai quotes. The US market was sensed as slightly overvalued, relative to Middle Eastern light grades, following a recent upward trend. In addition, the price gap between Dated Brent and Dubai quotes narrowed slightly, which eroded WTI's premiums to Dubai quotes. South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank on Tuesday purchased a total of 2.0 mil bbls of WTI Midlands for Jan 5-12 arrival. The seller was North European Equinor and the price was heard at a premium of about $5.30 to December Dubai quotes on a CFR basis. In trade for December-loading Angolan grades, British BP sold Girasol for November 18-19 loading to China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Co (UNIPEC). The price was at a premium of $1.45 to Dated Brent. BP earlier had previously offered the cargo at a premium of $2.35 to Dated Brent. The major later reduced the offer to a premium of $1.45 to Dated Brent and UNIPEC accepted the offer.

Asia Pacific Crude

In trade for Malaysian grades, several cargoes for October to November-loading were unplaced and supply/demand fundamentals were slack. Petron Malaysia and Malaysia's state-owned Petronas moved on selling one cargo each of October-loading Tapis. These companies lowered offers to discount levels to Dated Brent as cargoes were prompt-loading. Besides, Petron Malaysia and Petronas could sell one cargo each of October-loading Labuan and apparently offers cargoes at premiums in the $4's to Dated Brent. In addition, European Glencore was still trying to resell Lauan and Kimanis for end-October to early November-loading that the company had procured in September. In trade for December-loading Australian condensates, a supply program of Wheatstone was settled and two cargoes would be suppled. Australian Woodside and US Chevron handled one cargo each.