Middle East Crude-Dubai, Oman slip for third day as refining margins stay weak

Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai slipped for a third session on Wednesday amid persistently weak refining margins that crimp refiners' ability to pay more for their feedstock.

In contrast, IFAD Murban's premium halted decline and edged up 2 cents to $1.75 a barrel.

Taiwanese state refiner CPC Corp issued a tender to buy July-loading sour crude, which will close on May 14 with offers valid until May 20.

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE

Malaysia is set to export seven Kimanis crude cargoes in July, traders said. Petronas will be marketing three cargoes while ConocoPhillips has two. Shell and PTTEP have one cargo each.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 10 cents to $1.67 a barrel. Vitol will deliver a July-loading al-Shaheen cargo to Mercuria following the deals.

PRICES ($/BBL)

REFINERY

Jincheng Petrochemical, a newly restructured independent refiner controlled by the Liaoning provincial government in northeastern China, is seeking crude oil import quotas for its three plants, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Jincheng Petrochemical has applied to Beijing for quotas to import 15 million metric tons of crude per year, which equates to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd), or about 3% of the shipments the world's largest crude importer brings in.

Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical's BSR Dung Quat refinery is running at full capacity after being shut down for major maintenance from mid-March, a company executive said on Wednesday.

NEWS

The International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecast for 2024 oil demand growth on Wednesday, further expanding the chasm between it and oil producer group OPEC regarding the outlook for global oil demand this year.

The chief executive of Brazil's Petrobras PETR3 offered to step down, the state-run oil company said on Tuesday, as the government lined up a former regulator for the role, sending shares sliding as investors braced for political interference.

Singapore's marine bunker sales declined for a fourth consecutive month in April, official data showed late on Tuesday.

A Swiss unit of Polish refiner Orlen PKN paid two Dubai-based intermediary companies $330 million for Venezuelan oil, but Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA never received the money, according to sources and a document seen by Reuters.

Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina, U.S. major ExxonMobil and South Korea's KNOC on Wednesday signed a framework agreement for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub development in Indonesia.

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