SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai held steady on Thursday while some buying interests emerged in the spot market.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has set the November official selling price (OSP) for its benchmark Murban crude at minus $0.35 per barrel to Platts Dubai, up $0.15 from the previous month, a pricing document showed.

PetroChina bid for a December-loading Murban cargo at flat to Dubai quotes via the market-on-close price assessment process, while Shell offered at 5 cents above Dubai.

Indonesia's Pertamina closed a tender seeking condensate cargoes for delivery over Dec. 1-Jan. 8.

China's Fuhaichuang closed a tender seeking condensate cargoes for December delivery.

ONGC closed a tender selling a Russian Sokol crude cargo, loading Dec. 3-9, with bids valid till later on Thursday.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE:

Indonesia has set the official Indonesia Crude Price (ICP) for Minas crude oil at $39.11 a barrel for September, down $4.11 from the previous month, a pricing document showed. 

Pertamina offered a 300,000-barrel cargo of Malaysian Kidurong crude, loading Nov. 26-30, via a tender closing on Friday with bids valid till Oct. 13.

 

REFINERY

Ampol Ltd is considering closing its Lytton oil refinery, one of Australia's four refineries, as it has racked up big losses because of a coronavirus-driven slump in fuel demand and competition from huge Asian plants. 

Two consortiums led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Technip Italy are bidding for a $1.8 billion project to upgrade and expand Vietnam's Dung Quat refinery, the owner of the plant said on Thursday. 

 

NEWS

Chevron Corp employees worldwide are being asked to reapply for positions as part of a cost-cutting program expected to eliminate up to 15% of its workforce, people familiar with the matter said. 

U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose modestly, in line with expectations, while gasoline and distillate inventories dipped last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. 

A strike by oil workers in Norway could cut output from western Europe's biggest oil producer by almost a quarter, operators have warned, though the striking union said a resolution remained possible. 

The restart of Libyan oil exports is causing a headache for Mediterranean producers, who are finding it hard to place barrels in a market squeezed by low demand and a high flow of alternative grades. 

(Reporting By Shu Zhang; Editing by Shailesh Kuber) ((shu.zhang@thomsonreuters.com; +65-6870-3549; Reuters Messaging: Twitter @shuzhang4))