SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday as demand remained weak in the wake of a coronavirus outbreak in China that has now claimed more than 1,000 lives.

Prompt Dubai inter-month swaps stayed in the contango structure, with the March/April Dubai inter-month spread edging up to minus 24 cents a barrel by the close of trade in Singapore, Refinitiv data showed. That compared with minus 28 cents a barrel at Monday's close.

In the spot market, the front-month April trading cycle kicked off with UAE crude grades priced at wide discounts.

BP sold a cargo of Murban crude at a discount of 65 cents a barrel to Gunvor for loading over April 1-30. 

Total offered a cargo of Murban crude and a cargo of Das Blend crude, each at a discount of 80 cents a barrel below their official selling prices (OSPs), for loading over April 1-25, but did not attract any buyers.

Unipec offered April-loading Oman crude at $53.10 a barrel but did not attract any buyers.

Qatar has switched to forward pricing for its long-term crude sales starting with cargoes loading in March, aligning prices with other Middle East producers, two trade sources said.

Qatar has set the March OSP for Land crude at $2.40 a barrel above the monthly average of Platts Oman and Dubai quotes. The March OSP for Marine crude was set at a premium of $2.10 a barrel, the sources said. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2AB0FK

Kuwait has cut the OSP for March Kuwait Export Crude (KEC) it sells to Asia to $1.35 a barrel above the average of DME Oman and Platts Dubai quotes, down 60 cents a barrel from the previous month, a pricing document showed.

The producer also cut the February Kuwait Super Light Crude (KSLC) OSP to $2.90 a barrel above Oman/Dubai quotes, down $1.75 a barrel from the previous month, the document showed. 

 

REFINERY

China's private chemical giant and refiner Hengli Petrochemical has cut to 90% from this week its crude oil processing rate at a northeastern plant, down from 109%, as a spreading coronavirus hits demand, a spokesman said on Tuesday. 

South Korea's Hyundai Oilbank plans to shut its 360,000 barrels per day (bpd) No.2 crude distillation unit and 86,000-bpd fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) unit in the second quarter of the year, two sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. 

 

NEWS

Russia is still studying proposed deeper oil output cuts by the OPEC+ grouping of top producers prompted by the new coronavirus outbreak in China, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday. 

Guyana is aiming to complete talks with the Exxon Mobil Corp-led consortium producing oil off its coast over crude pricing, lifting costs, and scheduling before the government exports its first cargo, energy director Mark Bynoe said on Monday. 

Brazil's Petrobras hit a new production record in the fourth quarter, of over 3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), thanks largely to the ramp-up of platforms in the prolific pre-salt formation, the state-run oil firm said on Monday. 

Bearish views stemming from the coronavirus outbreak have increased trading activity on China's crude oil futures, as investors shorting the contract resulted in a surge in open interest levels to record highs in the past week. 

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