Middle East Crude

　Briton's BP on Tuesday reached an agreement with the Iraqi government to invest in several oil field in Kirkuku for the purpose of covering domestic demand for energy in Iraq. BP would raise total capacity of oil field in Kirkuku to at least 450,000 bpd in 2-3 years. Crude oil production from the oil field, which has been hampered by years of internal strife and corruption, currently standed at around 250,000 to 300,000 bpd, and there were expectations for a stable supply for the domestic market.

Asia Pacific Crude

　In the trade of Russian grades, end-users in India started to purchase Urals for April arrival. The latest deal for Urals for April arrival was said to be at a discount of about $2.80 to Dated Brent on CFR India. The level was largely steady from prices for March arrival. Meanwhile, about 55 cargoes of Urals were heard placed to India for March arrival. The volume was slightly larger than February arrival levels, but still more than 10 cargoes smaller than normal levels. For other Russian trade, India's Reliance Industries was said to have procured March arrival Sakhalin Sokol so far, but the details such as the price were unknown at this stage.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

　In trade for April-loading Papua New Genea, US Exxon Mobile sold mid-April-loading Kutubu late this week. The buyer was apparently China's Fuhaishuang Petrochemical (former Dragon Aromatics), and the price was said to have been at premiums of $3 to Dated Brent on a DES basis.