The Middle East crude benchmarks were little changed on Friday, supported by firm demand in Asia. Fuji Oil bought an Upper Zakum cargo for July-loading via a tender on Friday at about 30 cents a barrel above its OSP, traders said. The premium has slightly rebounded from the previous day as most of the spot supplies have been sold.
Japanese refiners JXTG and Cosmo Oil have also bought July-loading Das crude at 20-25 cents a barrel above its OSP, similar premiums to Murban. Qatari grades have sold out with Qatar Marine fetching premiums of 35-39 cents a barrel to its OSP. China's Dragon Aromatics closed a tender earlier this week to buy condensate for July delivery and was likely still in talks, traders said.
Sakhalin Energy offered a cargo loading on Aug. 1-7 in a tender to close on May 22. It was not immediately clear how many cargoes the producer will offer this month. Rosneft has re-allocated two Sokol cargoes that CEFC used to get each month, to JXTG and Trafigura for July, trade sources said. Cash Dubai's premium to swaps eased 3 cents to $1.27 a barrel, supported by robust demand from Shell, Mercuria and Petro-Diamond.