SINGAPORE, May 24 (Reuters) - The Asia-Pacific crude market slipped on Thursday, with Vietnamese crude cargoes loading in July trading at slightly lower or similar levels to June-loading cargoes, trade sources said.
July trading is expected to remain slow amid a wide Brent-WTI price spread, which makes crude from the United States more attractive and pull them to Asia, traders said.
"The length will build up and (prices) will come off and start to move the barrels," one of them said.
VIETNAM
* Vietnam's PV Oil has offered two cargoes of 300,000 barrels each of Bunga Kekwa for loading over July 1-7 and July 27-31. The tender closes on May 28 and is valid until June 5.
Malaysia's Petronas last offered Bunga Kekwa in the spot market but decided to ship it to its Melaka refinery, traders have said.
AUSTRALIA
* There are still two North West Shelf condensate cargoes unsold out of four cargoes in total offered for loading in July, trade sources said.
Lower demand from Indonesia has been causing sales of the condensate to slow down, they added.
Indonesia's TPPI splitter is currently running at about 60,000 barrels-per-day(bpd) or about 60 percent of total capacity, one of them said.
A partial Pluto condensate cargo may have sold, though price details were not immediately available.
CONDENSATE
* China's Dragon Aromatics closed a tender last week to buy condensate for July delivery but has yet to award the tender and is likely still in talks, a trader said.
BRENT-DUBAI EFS
* Brent's premium to Dubai swaps DUB-EFS-1M was at $3.60 per barrel, down 12 cents from the previous session.
NEWS
* China will import record volumes of U.S. oil and is likely to ship more U.S. soy after Beijing signalled to state-run refiners and grains purchasers they should buy more to help ease tensions between the two top economies, trade sources said on Wednesday. U.S. crude oil stockpiles climbed unexpectedly last week as net imports jumped, while gasoline stocks also posted a surprise build, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. Abu Dhabi's state-owned Mubadala Investment Company has acquired a 44 percent stake worth at least $271 million in an oil subsidiary of gas giant Gazprom (MCX:GAZP), the Russian company said on Thursday. Pipeline bottlenecks have vexed North American oil producers this year, but for companies making a little-known additive called drag-reducing agent (DRA), they have provided a veritable windfall. The UK Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) on Wednesday awarded 123 licences to 61 companies to explore for and develop new fields in the North Sea, in the latest sign of confidence in the ageing basin that has enjoyed a revival in recent years. crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.
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Dubai
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Brent/Dubai EFS
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PRODUCT CRACKS
Fuel oil crack
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Gasoil crack
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Naphtha crack
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Complex refining margins REF/MARGIN1