SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks eased on Tuesday as traders waited for more Russian ESPO crude to trade later this week.

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE: PV Oil has awarded its Rang Dong spot and term tenders to domestic refiner Binh Son, traders said, a move that will further reduce crude exports from Vietnam.

For Australian grades, Quadrant Energy will close a tender on Wednesday to sell its March-loading Van Gogh cargo.

BHP has sold a cargo of Pyrenees crude loading on March 15-19 at a premium of about $3.50 a barrel to dated Brent, down from a premium of more than $4 in the previous month, traders said, but was in line with weaker fuel oil cracks.

Woodside may have sold its March-loading Cossack to Shell, a trader said. BP may have bought Oil Search's Kutubu cargo loading on March 8-12.

Separately, Petronas is likely to start offering March-loading cargoes of Malaysian grades soon.

 

ARBITRAGE: China's Fujian Fuhua Industry & Trade Co has bought two more cargoes of European condensate for March delivery via a tender, including a rare Snohvit condensate cargo from the North Sea, trade sources said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1ZM2XF

The company, which buys oil on behalf of affiliate Fuhaichuang Petrochemicals, has also bought a cargo of Russian Yamal condensate which will be co-loaded with the Snohvit cargo onto one vessel, they said.

Equinor may have sold the cargoes, they said. The volumes and prices were not immediately known.

Fuhua didn't award a tender seeking term supplies for delivery between April and December, one of the sources said.

WINDOW: Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 7 cents to 52 cents. Unipec will deliver an Upper Zakum cargo to Shell in the first cargo delivery this month. Seller-Buyer Price Reliance-Shell 61.41 Unipec-Shell 61.40 Unipec-Shell 61.40 Reliance-Shell 61.41 Reliance-Shell 61.41 Unipec-Shell* 61.41 Reliance-Shell 61.41 Reliance-Shell 61.41 Unipec-Shell 61.41 Reliance-Shell 61.41 Unipec-Shell 61.41 *cargo delivery

 

REFINERY

Petronas said on Tuesday it has started up its refinery in Pengerang and expects the refinery to be ready for commercial operations by fourth quarter 2019. 

Greece is set to extend the deadline for two investors to submit final bids for a controlling stake in Hellenic Petroleum to give them more time to scrutinise the company's finances, two sources close to the matter said on Monday.

 

NEWS

The majority of senior energy industry executives expect to maintain or increase spending this year to meet demand for oil and gas after years of austerity, a survey by DNV GL shows. 

Russia is committed to its pledges on oil output cuts, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday, after criticism from Saudi Arabia. 

Oil exports from southern Iraq are holding close to a record high so far in 2019, according to shipping data and an industry source, which could raise questions over whether OPEC's second-largest producer is following through on a deal to cut output. 

Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in November rose to 8.235 million barrels per day (bpd) from 7.700 million bpd in October, official data showed on Monday. 

Iran failed to find any buyers on Monday in its latest attempt to sell oil to private companies for export on the energy exchange, state media reported, in a setback to Tehran's efforts to bypass U.S. sanctions. 

Total will approve plans to proceed with the Ikike project in Nigeria in the coming months, and also aims to expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the country, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Monday.

South Sudan started pumping on Monday an additional 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from its Unity oilfields, its oil minister said. 

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3497; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))