Middle East Crude-Benchmarks drop; Asian refiners face rising crude oil costs

SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban dipped on Friday as the spread between Brent- and Dubai-pegged oil narrowed, which could encourage Asian refiners to lift crude from further afield. Middle East spot crude prices are climbing on expectations of tighter supplies ahead of peak fuel demand in the northern summer, squeezing Asian refiners' margins and prompting them to secure supplies from other regions, traders and analysts said. Qatar Energy set the term price for cargoes of al-Shaheen oil loading in June at a higher level than for May, indicating stronger demand for crude for the summer amid tightening supply after producers agreed to cut output. Qatar set the price for June cargoes at a premium of about $2.37 a barrel above Dubai quotes, up from about $2.01 a barrel the previous month, trading sources said on Friday. In tenders, China's Rongsheng is seeking for June-loading crude oil at a size of 500,000 barrels to 2 million barrels. The tender will close on April 17.

OSP Indonesia has set the official Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) for Minas crude oil at $78.56 a barrel for March 2023, down $3.93 from the previous month, a document from the Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources showed. The March Minas alpha, or price difference to dated Brent, was set at minus $2.54 a barrel, down 81 cents from a month earlier, the document, which was seen by Reuters, showed. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 27 cents to $1.97 a barrel.
Seller-Buyer Price EXXONMOBIL-VITOL 86.00 EXXONMOBIL-GLENCORE 86.00 PETROCHINA-VITOL 86.00 PETROCHINA-GLENCORE 86.00 PHILLIPS 66-VITOL 86.00 PETROCHINA-BP 86.00 PETROCHINA-VITOL 86.00 EXXONMOBIL-GUNVOR 85.99 PETROCHINA-BP 85.99 PETROCHINA-VITOL 86.05 RELIANCE-VITOL 86.00 MITSUI-GLENCORE 86.04

PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 86.02 87.28 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI 1.99 2.22 CASH DUBAI 86.00 87.30

ASIAN REFINERIES Kuwait's recently opened Al Zour refinery has stopped offering very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) tenders amid a partial shutdown at the complex, trade sources said. Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC) will increase its refinery run rate in May to around 480,000 barrels per day (bpd), slightly lower than earlier plan, after completing maintenance, a company spokesperson said on Friday. Indian state-owned oil marketing company Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd on Friday said it had received approval from the Madhya Pradesh state government for expanding its Bina refinery and setting up a petrochemical project.

NEWS Output cuts announced by OPEC+ producers risk exacerbating an oil supply deficit expected in the second half of the year and could hurt consumers and global economic recovery, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. Several Asian refiners are likely to maximise gasoline output from May and reduce gasoil output, cashing in on higher profits for the motor fuel ahead of the peak summer driving season, industry sources and analysts said. Angola expects its oil production to temporarily increase next year on the back of recent private investments in the sector, but output will remain below 1.5 million barrels per day, its finance minister told Reuters on Thursday. Guyana's closely watched auction of 14 offshore oil blocks faces a delay with the South American country pushing back the deadline for oil explorers to submit bids to mid-July.

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.
Brent Dubai DME Oman Brent/Dubai EFS PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack Gasoil crack Naphtha crack Complex refining margins (Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)

Asia Europe Americas CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS
Crude oil tenders in Asia Crude oil supply outages in Asia Refinery outages in Asia Global arbitrage news and flows W.African crude imports to Asia, monthly REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES
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Japan China India S.Korea Indonesia CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA
Japan US Europe CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS
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For all Official Selling Prices For a POLL on oil prices NYMEX and ICE oil futures TOCOM crude oil futures Dubai, Oman swaps and spread Middle East physical crude diffs Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps Asia-Pacific physical crude All Asian crude oil differentials All Asian crude oil outright prices ))

Reuters

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Middle East Crude-Benchmarks drop; Asian refiners face rising crude oil costs

By Reuters

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