ME July Sour Crude Market Activity Gears Up with Issuance of Fresh Tenders, Spot Deals

Benchmark Dubai crude futures spreads were steady in mid-morning trading hours in Asia on Wednesday, with market participants contending with a slew of fresh activity including OSPs, tenders and cargo deals in the Middle East sour crude spot market.

At 11 am in Singapore (0300 GMT) Wednesday, the July Dubai futures contract was pegged at US$30.67/b, down slightly from US$31.18/b assessed on Tuesday at 4:30 pm (0830 GMT).

Intermonth spreads, however, edged up a few notches, with the June/July Dubai futures spread pegged at minus 53 cents/b Wednesday morning, up from minus 62 cents/b assessed on Tuesday. On a similar note, the July/August spread ticked up to be pegged at minus 52 cents/b Wednesday, from its assessment at minus 62 cents/b on Tuesday.

Market participants busied themselves with several new tenders, spot deals and official selling prices for the day.

Qatar Petroelum for the Sale of Petroleum Products, or QPSPP, released its monthly tender, in which it offered July-loading cargoes of Al-Shaheen, Qatar Marine and Land crude grades.

The tender, closing later Wednesday and valid until May 14, will offer key cues on trading sentiment for a range of Middle East crudes available on the July spot market this month, traders said.

Sentiment for medium to heavier crudes looks firmer this month, with several million barrels of Iraqi Basrah Light crude being sold into Asia earlier this week at premiums between US$2/b and US$3/b against the June Basrah Light OSP, traders said.

A shortage of Russia's medium sour Urals grade in Europe, and a healthy buying appetite for cheap barrels from China is keeping a floor under prices of such grades, market participants added.

Meanwhile, Qatar Petroleum also released its June official selling prices Wednesday, following in the tracks of Aramco, ADNOC and Iraq's SOMO earlier this month.

QP set the latest OSP differential for Qatar Land crude at a discount of US$5.15/b to the average of Platts Dubai and Oman crude assessments in the month of June. The OSP is up US$2.15/b from the differential for May, according to the notice.

It set the OSP differential for Qatar Marine crude loading over June at a discount of US$4.60/b against Dubai/Oman, which is a hike of US$2.50/b from May, Platts data showed.

The June OSP hikes widened the premium for Qatar Marine over Qatar Land to 55 cents/b, after flipping into a 20 cents/b premium for the first time ever last month, when QP issued its May OSPs.