SINGAPORE- The Middle East crude benchmarks stayed firm on Monday amid thin trade, even as differentials for light and medium grades weakened in the spot market.

Large arbitrage supplies from the Atlantic Basin and the United States competed against Middle East grades, depressing their spot value, traders said.

Fuji Oil has bought at least two cargoes of Murban crude loading in August at 21-22 cents a barrel below its OSP, they said. The grade traded last week at discounts of about 18 cents a barrel. Chinaoil and Inpex have likely sold one cargo each to Fuji Oil, traders said, but the deals could not be independently verified.

August-loading Qatar Marine cargoes have also traded at premiums of 10 cents and lower against its OSP, traders said, down from premiums of 35-40 cents in the previous month.

RUSSIA: Surgutneftegaz has offered three ESPO cargoes to load on July 31-Aug. 5, Aug. 3-8 and Aug. 8-13 in a tender to close on June 19. ExxonMobil sold one August-loading Sokol cargo via tender at about $4.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes last week, a trader said.

WINDOW: The last bid-offer for August Dubai partials were at $70.95-$71.00, putting cash Dubai at $1.20 a barrel above swaps, up 7 cents from Thursday. Separately, BP sold a September partial to Mercuria at $70.45 a barrel.

 

NEWS

China's threat to impose duties on U.S. oil imports will hit a business that has soared in the last two years, and which is now worth almost $1 billion per month.

Goldman Sachs on Monday forecast a tighter oil market for longer amid strong growth in demand and the likelihood that rising supply disruptions could counter any increase in OPEC production. 

Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) said storage capacity at Ras Lanuf port had been cut by 400,000 barrels after a second crude oil tank was set on fire amid fighting between rival factions for control of two key export terminals.

Port officials on Tuesday are expected to consider $300 million in financing that would prepare the United States' largest oil-export port - Corpus Christi, Texas - to handle a surge in U.S. shale production over the next five years. 

China's independent oil refiners are suffering a drastic change of fortune as new tax rules, shrinking diesel demand and higher crude prices threaten their nearly three-year profit bonanza. 

China's imports of Venezuelan crude oil could sink to their lowest in nearly eight years in July as the OPEC producer struggles with shrinking output and mounting logistics issues, according to people familiar with the matter and shipping data.

Russia and Saudi Arabia have a general consensus that the OPEC+ format should be "institutionalised" and extended until 2019 and beyond for oil market monitoring and joint action in case of need, Russia's energy ministry said in a statement on Friday. 

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