SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The Asia Pacific crude market strengthened on Thursday after spot differentials for condensates improved from the previous month.
A narrower Brent's premium to Dubai quotes pushed up differentials for Asia-Pacific grades, traders said.
MALAYSIA
* Ten Kimanis cargoes are expected to load from Malaysia in October, down one from the previous month, trade sources said.
Petronas is expected to load four cargoes, while Shell (LON:RDSa) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) will load two cargoes each, one of them said.
Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) and PetroBrunei will load a cargo each, the source added.
CONDENSATES
* Woodside Petroleum likely sold a North West Shelf condensate cargo at a discount of 20 to 30 cents a barrel to dated Brent, trade sources said.
This is up from the discount of 50 to 70 cents a barrel that was achieved for September-loading North West Shelf condensate cargoes traded earlier, they added.
* BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) likely sold an October-loading Pluto condensate cargo at a discount of 20 to 30 cents a barrel to dated Brent, traders added. The buyer was not immediately known.
BRUNEI
* Brunei cut the July Seria Light crude price to $76.80 per barrel, down 3 cents from the previous month.
BRENT-DUBAI EFS
* Brent's premium to Dubai swaps DUB-EFS-1M was at $1.61
per barrel for October, down 3 cents from the previous session.
NEWS
* A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, a move that could delay the project and prove a setback for the Trump administration. Texas environment regulators should coordinate shutdowns of oil refineries and other petrochemical plants during major storms to avoid big releases of air pollution like during last year's Hurricane Harvey, a report said on Thursday. Japanese utilities and industrial companies are snapping up U.S. cargoes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that are seeking a new home after Chinese buyers started to shun them amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing. Japan's customs-cleared crude oil imports fell 10.2 percent in July from the same month a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. the world's fourth-biggest crude buyer, imported 2.9 million barrels per day (14.292 million kilolitres) of crude oil last month, the preliminary data showed. Crude imports marked their lowest volumes for the month of July since 1989 amid shrinking oil demand due to a declining population and prevalence of more efficient vehicles and equipment.
* U.S. crude oil stockpiles jumped unexpectedly last week despite record high refinery runs, while gasoline stocks decreased and distillate inventories grew, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Japanese refiner Fuji Oil has bought 2 million barrels of Middle East crude for October loading via a tender and is seeking more oil to replace Iranian supplies, several trade sources said on Thursday. Oil companies bid on less than 1 percent of the parcels offered in a sweeping U.S. auction of Gulf of Mexico exploration leases on Wednesday, showing tepid interest in the region for the second time this year. crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.
Brent
BRENTSGMc1
Dubai
DUBSGSWMc2
Brent/Dubai EFS
DUB-EFS-1M
PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack
FO180SGCKMc1
Gasoil crack
GOSGCKMc1
Naphtha crack
NAFOBSGCKMc1
Complex refining margins REF/MARGIN1