SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific crude market strengthened as robust middle distillate margins boosted demand in the region. PV Oil sold 500,000 barrels of Su Tu Den due to load in March to Vitol at US$1.2 (S$1.6)-US$1.5 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said. Last month, the medium sweet grade fetched a premium of around US$1 a barrel.
Complex refining margins in Singapore averaged US$6.74 a barrel in the last 15 days, up from US$6.14 in December. More detail emerged on another tender by PV Oil to March-loading Chim Sao crude. Vitol purchased three 300,000-barrel cargoes with prices ranging from US$2.70 a barrel to $3 a barrel above dated Brent, traders said.
Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS) DUB-EFS-1M , or Brent’s premium to Dubai swaps, narrowed 24 cents to US$1.46 a barrel, the lowest since mid-October last year. Russia’s Rosneft has started oil production at the Arkutun-Dagi field, which is expected to produce 4.5 million tonnes of oil a year (90,000 barrels per day) at peak production, the company said.
China’s implied oil demand grew 3 per cent in 2014 as China added refinery capacity and motor fuel use rose, with crude throughput and imports picking up steam in the fourth quarter and ending at records in December.
A crude oil pipeline and a deep sea port meant to secure an alternative route for Chinese imports overland through Myanmar are set to open at the end of January, but an affiliated refinery in China is months away from completion, sources said.
Iran sees no sign of a shift within OPEC towards action to support oil prices, its oil minister said, adding its oil industry could ride out a further price slump to US$25 a barrel.
