SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai dropped on Tuesday to their lowest since the end of February as the June-loading trade cycle approaches its end and a spike in coronavirus infections in India casts a shadow over near-term demand in Asia.

Vietnam's PV Oil awarded one Ruby crude cargo to Thai refiner PTT at a premium of below $1 a barrel to dated Brent, loading June 20-27, traders said.

Indonesia's Pertamina is seeking crude for delivery over June 1-19 or July via a tender closing on Thursday.

 

REFINERY

South Korea's third-largest refiner on Tuesday said that refining margins are set to improve further in the second quarter as fuel demand and economic activity recover thanks to global vaccine rollouts. 

Australian fuel supplier Viva Energy Group on Tuesday said it expected to receive government aid of about A$19.6 million ($15.28 million) for the first quarter to keep its Geelong refinery running. 

 

NEWS

OPEC and allies led by Russia will hold their joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC) meeting on April 27 instead of April 28 as previously planned, according to a source and an OPEC+ document seen by Reuters. 

China's Shandong Maritime Safety Administration said on Tuesday that the tanker A Symphony, carrying about 1 million barrels of oil, has spilled oil in the Yellow Sea. 

BP's profit more than tripled to $2.6 billion in the first quarter thanks to stronger oil prices and bumper revenue from natural gas trading, paving the way for the energy company to start buying back its shares. 

Motorists taking weekend trips have helped to boost gasoline demand in the United States, China and the United Kingdom, but the recovery has been crimped by rising coronavirus infection rates elsewhere, particularly India.

U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles are likely to have risen last week, while inventories of distillates were expected to have declined for a third consecutive week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday. 

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