AUSTRALIA
Chevron sold its May 4-8 loading Cossack crude oil cargo to oil trader Trafigura at a premium of $1.70 to $1.95 a barrel above dated Brent, trade sources said.
Woodside Petroleum last sold a March-loading Cossack cargo at below $1 a barrel premium to dated Brent, traders have said. There were no spot Cossack cargoes available for export in April.
The premium for May-loading cargo is up likely due to non- availability of Kutubu Light cargoes, traders said.
Oil Search is yet to release its May-loading program for Kutubu Light oil cargoes following a powerful earthquake in Papua New Guinea in late February which knocked out ExxonMobil's LNG export facility.
BHP may have sold a May-loading North West Shelf condensate cargo at a premium of above $1 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said, though this could not immediately be confirmed.
MALAYSIA
Malaysia's Petronas has offered 300,000 barrels of Muda condensate for May 25-31 loading. The tender closes on March 22 and is valid until March 23.
Petronas last sold an April-loading Muda condensate cargo to PTT at a premium of $2.50 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said.
THAILAND
Thailand's PTT is seeking 300,000 to 1 million barrels of sweet crude for delivery over May 20 to June 10, trade sources said.
The tender closes on March 20 and is valid until March 21.
NEWS
Iran has nearly doubled gas production at South Pars, the world's largest gas field, in the past year, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday, according to state media.
Gas production at South Pars increased from 285 million cubic metres to 555 million cubic metres in the past Iranian calendar year, which started in late March 2017, Rouhani said, according to state media.
The head of Iraq's state-oil marketer SOMO said on Sunday that Iraq will seek to corner a greater share of Asian markets through a new joint venture strategy.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said on Sunday it had signed 40-year agreements with France's Total, awarding the company a 20 percent stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a 5 percent interest in the Lower Zakum concession.
Traders are storing gasoline on tankers off Europe's coast as they struggle to contain a steady rise in supplies since the start of the year that has weighed on prices.
The unusual move reflects a recent weakening in the margin refiners make from converting crude oil into the road fuel as stocks in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub in recent weeks reached their highest level since July 2016, according to data from PJK International.