SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai slipped on Monday as buying interest cooled, with most Asian refiners having completed their spot purchases.
Global oil refiners reeling from months of lackluster demand and an abundance of inventories are cutting fuel production into the autumn because the recovery in demand from the impact of coronavirus has stalled, according to executives, refinery workers and industry analysts.
In tenders, Thailand's IRPC bought only one cargo of Banoco Arab Medium crude for loading in November at a small discount to its official selling price (OSP), traders said.
ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE: Australian Pyrenees crude premium stayed weak in line with lower low-sulphur fuel oil cracks, traders said. Santos sold a November-loading cargo at more than $5 a barrel to dated Brent, they added.
RUSSIAN CRUDE: Russian Sokol's discount narrowed to about 20 cents a barrel to Dubai quotes after Chevron bought a cargo from ONGC, traders said. Exxon Mobil also sold a mid-November loading cargo at a similar level, one of the traders said.
More details emerged for Surgutneftegaz's third ESPO crude tender. CNOOC and Vitol bought the cargoes, traders said.
NEWS
Royal Dutch Shell is looking to slash up to 40% off the cost of producing oil and gas in a major drive to save cash so it can overhaul its business and focus more on renewable energy and power markets, sources told Reuters.
Shell halted some oil production and began evacuating workers from a U.S. Gulf of Mexico platform, the company said on Saturday, as a new tropical storm flared.
Workers at Libya's major Sharara field have restarted operations, two engineers working there said, after National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced a partial lifting of force majeure.
Indonesia will shorten a planned shutdown at its Banyu Urip field and accelerate drilling at the Rokan block in a bid to reach its target for oil and gas lifting this year, the country's upstream regulator SKK Migas said on Monday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2GI0KR
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Devika Syamnath) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3497; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
