SINGAPORE- The Middle East crude market was mixed on Wednesday as Dubai cash premiums edged higher while the DME Oman premium fell.

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps climbed 4 cents to $1.72 a barrel, while DME Oman's premium to Dubai swaps fell 19 cents to $1.71 a barrel.

DUBAI OSP

Dubai has set its official crude differential for September at parity to DME Oman futures 1OQc1 , the Dubai Department of Petroleum Affairs said on Wednesday. 

 

RUSSIA

Surgutneftegaz will close a tender later on Wednesday to sell five ESPO crude cargoes while traders await Rosneft's tender results.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC

Australian heavy sweet crude premiums hold steady, supported by blending demand for low-sulphur bunker fuel for early next year. Santos sold its August-loading Van Gogh to Vitol at a premium close to $12 a barrel to dated Brent, traders said.

Exxon Mobil offered 300,000-600,000 barrels Banyu Urip for loading on Aug. 29-30 in a tender to close on June 28

Condensate remained mired in deep discounts because of weak naphtha margins.

Petronas has sold an August-loading cargo of Muda condensate at close to $6 a barrel below dated Brent to a trader while its Cakerawala condensate went to an end-user, traders said.

 

S.KOREA IMPORTS

South Korea did not import Iran crude oil for May, while its total crude oil imports fell 11.6% year on year to 84.1 million barrels last month, data from state-run Korea National Oil Corp (KNOC) showed on Wednesday. 

 

WINDOW

Eleven cash Dubai partials traded on Wednesday as well as one 500,000-barrel cargo of Upper Zakum crude which Totsa bought from Unipec at 25 cents a barrel above its official selling price (OSP).

 

REFINERY

S-Oil, South Korea's No.3 oil refiner by capacity, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its top shareholder, Saudi Aramco, for technical advice on a multi-billion dollar petrochemical plant it is looking to build.

 

NEWS

Russia became the largest crude oil supplier to China in May, supported by robust demand from private refiners and alongside a fall in supplies from Iran. 

Imports from Russia came in at 6.36 million tonnes in May, or 1.50 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Tuesday.

Saudi Aramco has signed 12 pacts with South Korean partners worth billions of dollars, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, as part of a long-term strategy for downstream growth and diversification. 

The agreements, signed with companies including Hyundai Heavy Industries, cover ship building, engine manufacturing, refining, petrochemicals, and crude supply, sales and storage, it said.

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