SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai started off the month on a firm note on Monday, underpinned by bids from Totsa and Gunvor.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has set the September official selling price (OSP) for its benchmark Murban crude at $73.50 a barrel, the company said on Sunday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P9003
The August OSP was at $72.34 a barrel.
ADNOC has widened the discount between Murban and heavier grade Upper Zakum to 80 cents a barrel in September, reflecting weakness in markets for medium and heavy grades last month, traders said.
Iraqi Basra crude is still in the market while South Korean buyers have met some of their demand by purchasing U.S. Mars crude, they added.
All eyes are on the next round of OSPs for Saudi crude, which is expected to be released later this week.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to raise prices across various grades of crude oil it sells to Asia in September for a second straight month.
In tenders, Indian refiner MRPL has bought 1 million barrels of Nigerian Egina crude via a tender from Totsa at an unknown price, traders said.
ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE
The OSP of a basket of July-loading Malaysian crude oil grades OSP/MY has been set at $76.88 a barrel, state oil company Petronas said in a pricing document released on Monday.
WINDOW
Cash Dubai's premium to swaps was at $2.47 a barrel.
Middle East crude benchmark Dubai, as quoted by price-reporting agency S&P Global Platts, rose to an average of $72.903 a barrel in July, trade sources said on Monday, the highest since October 2018.
NEWS
OPEC oil output rose in July to its highest since April 2020, a Reuters survey found, as the group further eased production curbs under a pact with its allies and top exporter Saudi Arabia phased out a voluntary supply cut.
China's Rizhao port in the oil refining hub of Shandong province has completed the construction of 16 new oil storage tanks, with a total storage capacity of 1.6 million cubic metres, the port said in a statement on Friday.
India's daily gasoline consumption exceeded pre-pandemic levels last month as states relaxed COVID-19 related lockdowns while gasoil sales were low, signalling subdued industrial activity in July, showed preliminary sales data of state fuel retailers.
The United States and Britain said on Sunday they believed Iran carried out an attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum product tanker off the coast of Oman on Thursday that killed a Briton and a Romanian, both pledging to work with partners to respond.
Oil Search said on Monday it intended to recommend an improved buyout offer from Santos Ltd, worth A$8.4 billion ($6.2 billion), in a deal that would create a top-20 global oil and gas company.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
