SINGAPORE: Middle East crude benchmarks eased on Tuesday while the spot premium for Russian ESPO gained thanks to robust demand from China.
Russia's Gazprom has sold 740,000 barrels of September-loading ESPO crude at a premium of around $5.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, the highest in nine months, three trade sources said on Tuesday <ESPO-DUB>.
This was higher than the $5.30-$5.40 a barrel seen in Surgutneftegaz's tender earlier.
For Middle East crude, Thailand's PTT did not award a tender to buy September-loading crude.
A sharply narrower discount for Murban may have sidelined buyers, a trader said. "The price is very high compared with a week ago so I suppose they are reluctant to buy. Demand is not so strong this month ... prices could soften."
Spot demand from Taiwan's CPC also fell as it bought only one Upper Zakum cargo compared with four in the previous month.
CPC bought the Upper Zakum cargo at 20 cents a barrel below its official selling price (OSP).
ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE: Malaysian crude premiums stayed firm as Petronas has sold a September-loading Labuan cargo at a premium close to $6 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said.
ARBITRAGE: Vietnam's Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical will import 2 million to 3 million barrels of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude in the second half of this year for its Dung Quat refinery, a company executive said on Tuesday.
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