Middle East Crude

　 Market players focused on the eighth sell tender for Das, Upper Zakum and Umm Lulu by Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC). The tender closed on Aug 13, with validity until Aug 14. Prices for Murban advanced sharply , which buoyed values for other Abu Dhabi grades like Das and Umm Lulu. "Following the move, we want to see how much end-users will raise bids," said an end-user in Northeast Asia. ADNOC offered cargoes for October to November loading or October to November arrival in the tender.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

In trade for November arrival US grades, refiners in Japan and South Korea continued to make purchases. Cosmo Oil on Aug 13 bought 2mil barrels of November-arrival Mars from European Trafigura in Europe, although the price was unknown. GS Caltex also procured 2 mil barrels of November-arrival Mars from the Britain's Shell. The price was said to be at a premium in the $13s to Dubai quotes. Meanwhile, in trade for Mexican crude, Cosmo Oil purchased November-arrival Olmeca. Details such as the deal price were not disclosed.

Asia Pacific Crude

　 In trade for Malaysian grades, the supply program for October-loading Kimanis has been finalized. Four cargoes are scheduled to be supplied, unchanged from the previous month. State-owned Petronas was scheduled to handle two cargoes for Oct 12-16 and Oct 26-30 loading. ConocoPhillips was scheduled to handle one cargo for October 5-9 loading, while Shell was scheduled to handle one cargo for Oct 19-23 loading. With no allocation to Brunei Energy Services & Trading (BEST), many market participants increasingly expect no spot Kimanis supply to emerge in October-loading trade. With no clear prospect of the Strait of Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb Strait reopening and Middle Eastern crude supplies remaining short, "all equity holders are likely to take their October-loading Kimanis cargoes back into their own systems," an energy company in Southeast Asia said.