MALAYSIA
ConocoPhillips sold a Kimanis cargo loading between April 3 to 7 to oil major Shell at a premium of $3.50 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said.
This is about 50 to 60 cents lower than March-loading cargoes sold earlier, traders said, despite lower supplies of the grade expected to load in April.
Malaysia will export 10 Kimanis crude cargoes in April, down 2 cargoes from the previous month, sources have said.
RUSSIA
Russia's Surgutneftegaz awarded in a tender 300,000 tonnes of ESPO Blend for loading on March 31 - April 5, April 3-8 and 6-12 at premiums between $4.20 and $4.40 to April Dubai swaps, traders said.
Shell, Mercuria and Litasco were named as the buyers of the cargoes, while other traders said that Chemchina could buy one of the parcels.
ExxonMobil has offered a 700,000-barrel Sokol cargo for export in April in a tender that closes on Feb. 21, traders said.
The loading dates will be April 8 to 12, April 18 to 22 or April 29 to May 3, one of them said.
India's ONGC last sold an April 6-12 Sokol cargo to Shell at a premium of $5.25 to $5.30 a barrel to Dubai quotes.
Sakhalin has offered 730,000 barrels of Sakhalin Blend for loading over May 2 to 8 in a tender that closes on Feb. 21 and valid until Feb. 22.
Sakhalin Energy last sold three April-loading Sakhalin Blend cargoes at a premium of $5 to $5.15 a barrel to Dubai quotes.
NEWS
The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest privately owned crude terminal in the United States, has completed the first very large crude carrier (VLCC) crude oil loading operation at its deepwater port, the company said late on Sunday.
The vessel that loaded the crude oil for export is the Saudi Arabian-flagged 'Shaden', traders have said, though this could not be confirmed with LOOP.
Iran has offered to raise the freight discount on oil sales to India in return for New Delhi agreeing to boost imports, as the OPEC member is keen to eat into the market share of other producers including top rivals Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Japan's customs-cleared crude oil import volumes in January hit the lowest for the month in at least 30 years, trade data from the Ministry of Finance showed on Monday, amid a continued decline in consumption due to a shrinking population.
Indonesia is offering 24 conventional and 2 unconventional oil and gas blocks in its 2018 tender that opened on Monday, an energy ministry official said.