SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks rebounded on Tuesday, supported by Shell's purchases on Platts window, even as spot premiums for grades such as Basra Heavy dropped lower.

Iraq has sold more July-loading Basra Heavy crude at a lower premium via a tender, traders said. The producer sold 2 million barrels of the oil for loading in end-July to Chinese trader Zhenhua Oil at 50 cents a barrel above its official selling price, they said, down from the 90 cents a barrel premium seen in the previous tender.

Separately, more of the August-loading Russian ESPO crude will be sold in the next few days in tenders issued by Rosneft and Surgutneftegaz.

WINDOW: Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose 6 cents to $1.68 a barrel after Shell bought most of the 23 August Dubai partials on window.

 

NEWS

Saudi Aramco is concerned at recent actions in the Gulf but can meet its customers' needs thanks to its experience and the availability of additional spare capacity, its chief executive said. 

A surge in India's oil imports from the United States outpaced growth in shipments from its traditional suppliers in the Middle East, after Washington imposed sanctions on Tehran in November, according to tanker arrival data obtained from sources. 

Growth in India's fuel demand is set to remain at 4-4.5% this year, driven by consumption of gasoline and jet fuel in the transportation sector, the head of the country's largest state-owned refiner said on Tuesday. 

In the opinion of Russian officials, the oil contamination crisis that disrupted flows from the world's second-largest exporter of crude this spring is long over. 

But a closer look at a dozen tankers containing dirty Russian oil suggests that for the buyers, the debacle has a long way to run and will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.

 

(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Rashmi Aich) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3497; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) outright prices 0#C-A ))