Middle East Crude-Benchmarks extend losses as trade slows

Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban extended losses on Thursday as most refiners have completed their purchases for September loading cargoes.

Indian refiner has bought 1 million barrels of Murban at $1.60-$1.70 a barrel via a tender in addition to the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude it purchased earlier, traders said.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps fell 13 cents to $1.48 a barrel.

REFINERY
Japan’s biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, restarted the 175,000 barrels-per-day crude distillation unit (CDU) at its Kashima refinery north of Tokyo, on July 11 after fixing a system glitch, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.

China’s newest mega refiner Shandong Yulong Petrochemical Co plans to start test runs its 400,000 barrels-per-day plant around Sept. 30, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter.

NEWS
The European Commission is seeking more information on Hungary and Slovakia’s request that it mediate a consultation procedure with Ukraine over disrupted oil flows from Russia, and has rejected a three-day deadline to respond to the countries’ complaint.

Russia will compensate for exceeding crude oil production quotas set by OPEC+ partners and there is no friction over the issue, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters on Thursday.

Democratic U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill to hold energy companies accountable if they are found by federal regulators to have colluded with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise oil prices.

One crew member was still missing after a tanker carrying industrial fuel capsized early on Thursday morning off the Philippines, the country’s transportation minister said, and the incident had caused an oil spill.

India’s monthly oil imports from its biggest supplier Russia slipped marginally in June while those from the United States rose to the highest since February 2022, data obtained from the industry sources showed.

Singapore’s middle distillates stockpiles were above 11 million barrels for a second straight week as gains in jet fuel/kerosene net exports offset the rise in diesel/gasoil imports, though the country turned a net importer of the latter this week, official data showed on Thursday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)