Middle East Crude

　Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (DNOC) in a tender closed on Nov 2 sold Murban to end-users in Japan and South Korea. South Korea's SK Energy bought 2.0 million barrels for December loading at a premium of the $2.00s level to Dubai quotes. SK Energy also was believed to have purchased 2.0 million barrels for January loading. Idemitsu Kosan was said to have bought 2.0 million barrels for January loading at a premium of $5.00-6.00 to Dubai quotes. An Asian end-user commented, "the price difference for these cargoes was believed to be resulted from the delivery timing". Separately, ENEOS and Cosmo Oil was said to have purchased 2.0 million barrels each of January-loading cargoes. Those deals were believed to be supplies from Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfers offshore Fujairah-Sohar or loading from Fujairah's oil storage facilities. The tender covered cargoes for December to January loading.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

In Nigerian crude trading, Dangote Group lifted ten cargoes of December-loading Nigerian crude under its term contract with state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC). Meanwhile, NNPC was expected to float its December-loading Nigerian crude sell tender soon, and Dangote Group was likely to participate as usual. It was widely believed that Dangote Group would seek spot purchases of Nigerian and US crude, as its Dangote Refinery (700,000 b/d) continued to operate at full capacity.

Asia Pacific Crude

　Shell announced that it concluded an agreement to sell its 16.67% stake in Australia's NWS (North West Shelf) project to XRG, an affiliate of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Woodside will continue to operate and manage the project. The sale price was $1.45bn. Additional payments may be made if certain conditions, including target returns, are met. "By acquiring the NWSC stake, the ADNOC group will secure gas and condensate supply outside the Middle East and strengthen its presence in international markets," a Singapore-based trader said. For Shell, "the sale of the aging NWSC asset frees up capital for new investments," another Singapore-based trader said.