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SINGAPORE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Benchmark Dubai crude slipped back into a discount on Thursday amid relatively quiet trade, while Oman and Murban also softened.
Chinese refiner Rongsheng Petrochemical bought 3 million barrels of Brazilian and Qatari crude oil via a spot tender, several trade sources said on Thursday.
The refiner purchased 2 million barrels of Brazilian Atapu and Tupi crude from Petrobras for March delivery, they said. It also bought 1 million barrels of February-loading al-Shaheen crude from Unipec, the sources said.
Separately, it bought 2 million barrels of Basra Heavy crude for loading at end-January at $3 a barrel below its official selling price, traders said.
INVENTORIES
U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 15 to 443.7 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.3 million-barrel drop.
U.S. oil refiners are expected to have 14,000 barrels per day (bpd) of capacity offline for the week ending Dec. 22, after operating at full capacity in the previous week, research company IIR Energy said.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai's differential to swaps slipped to a discount of 8 cents a barrel on Thursday.
Shell will be delivering one February-loading Oman cargo to Glencore.
SELLER-BUYER PRICE
SHELL-GLENCORE 78.85
SHELL-GLENCORE 78.85
SHELL-GLENCORE 78.85
SHELL-GUNVOR 78.85
TRAFIGURA-GLENCORE 78.90PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION
DME OMAN 78.75 78.98
DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI -0.18 -0.04
CASH DUBAI 78.85 79.05NEWS
Shipping companies remain in the dark over a new international navy coalition being assembled by the United
States to combat attacks in the Red Sea, with vessels continuing
to avoid the area or cancelling contracts, sources said.Exporters are scrambling to find alternative air, land and ocean routes to get toys, apparel, tea and auto parts to
retailers as disarray ripples through freight supply chains
around the world during a wave of attacks in the Red Sea.The U.S. Treasury imposed fresh sanctions on a ship manager owned by the Russian government and three oil traders involved
in Russian oil trade.A Biden administration auction of Gulf of Mexico drilling rights raised $382 million on Wednesday as oil companies claimed
offshore acreage for what is set to be the last time until 2025.Rosneft representatives will travel to Berlin on Friday to discuss a possible sale of the Russian oil giant's German
assets, among other options, with government officials, a source
familiar with the matter told Reuters.For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.
Brent
Dubai
DME Oman
Brent/Dubai EFS <DUB-EFS-1M>
PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack
Gasoil crack
Naphtha crack <NAF-SIN-CRK>
Complex refining margins
