Asia's crude market was in a lull on Tuesday, as most end users had met their requirements, but some lagging cargoes were under pressure amid a lack of buying interest, traders said. Traders also awaited a number of retroactive official selling prices for June from producers such as Saudi Arabia and Oman after Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) released theirs last night.
On the African crude market, at least two companies were seen still offering Sudanese medium-heavy sweet Nile Blend crude for July loadings, with the differentials seen at distressed levels, a trader said.
Nile Blend, used for power generation, has been hit by easing demand from Japan. Some remaining cargoes of distillates-rich Abu Dhabi Murban and Umm Shaif crude for August loadings were still available.
September-loading cargoes kicked off trade late last month after sour benchmark Oman crude was likely to have traded at a premium of a single-digit cent to its OSP, traders have said. One trader said the levels might be at a high single-digit cent premium. The levels were steady to higher, compared with the 4 cent premium at which the first Oman cargo was heard done based on the DME quotes for August last month. The Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) for August was valued at $3.60 a barrel, 5 cents wider than Monday.
August ICE Brent was down 13 cents at $72.50 by 0235 GMT, after settling up $1.22 on Monday. September Oman stood at $68.31, after Asia's settlement at $67.69 on Monday. September Dubai contract was untraded after settling in Asia at $67.36 on Monday.
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