SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai slipped to their lowest premiums this month as trade dwindled towards end of July, while Japanese refiner Fuji Oil took traders by surprise by purchasing an Oman cargo via a tender.

Fuji Oil bought 500,000 barrels of Oman crude at $2.05 a barrel above Dubai quotes, probably from Total, traders said, in a second attempt to buy the crude this month. The Japanese refiner typically does not buy crude late in the trading cycle.

Separately, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) plans to increase supplies of all crude grades to customers in October by reducing the allocation cuts to 5% versus a 15% cut in September, traders said.

This comes after OPEC+ agreed to increase production from August to the rest of the year.

SOMO did not sell a 2-million-barrel Basra Medium crude cargo for August loading via the Platts window on Tuesday as all the bids came in at discounts to its official selling price (OSP), traders said.

REFINERY

Hengli Petrochemical Co Ltd 600346.SS , one of China's largest independent refiners and petrochemicals producers, denied on Tuesday a state-run media outlet's report that it had evaded paying tax of about $2 billion by under-reporting output of refined products. 

 

NEWS

U.S. oil refiners are set to post their first quarterly profit since the COVID-19 pandemic, even though higher oil prices and weaker margins in June have tamed analysts' optimism fostered by the rebound in fuel demand. 

The summer rebound in global fuel demand could be turning into a slowdown, as analysts expect gasoline consumption to taper off due to resurgent coronavirus cases and structural changes in commuting patterns. 

U.S. independent shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources on Tuesday warned it would be hit by an $832 million second-quarter loss on oil and gas derivatives. 

A Dutch court has ruled a half-billion-dollar stake in the Portuguese oil company Galp linked to Angolan ex-first daughter Isabel Dos Santos must be handed over to Angola, lawyers for the southwest African country's state oil company said on Tuesday. 

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))