Middle East Crude

　Several independent energy companies that operated refineries in Shandong Province, China, apparently kept buying Iranian cargoes. The US government strengthened sanctions against these companies last week. Nevertheless, supply of Iranian grades to China was not considerably decreasing at present. One trader in the Middle East pointed out that refiners in Shandong were unlikely to significantly slash purchase of Iranian grades since the value was attractive, compared to other Middle East grades.

Asia Pacific Crude

　For other trade for African grades, British-based Perenco issued a sell tender for May-loading Congo's Djeno. It offered 920,000bbl of Djeno for May 8-9 loading. The tender will close on Thursday, with validity until Friday.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

　In trade for Brunei grades, Glencore won a Seria Light Export Blend term sell tender issued by Brunei Energy Service Trading (BEST). The awarded price was heard at premiums of slightly below $1.0 to its OSP. Through the tender, BEST was trying to sell one cargo per month from June to December-loading in 2025. It was widely believed that Glencore might resell some of these cargoes or bring some cargoes to its Bukom refinery (with production capacity of 237,000 barrels per day) in Singapore.