SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai held steady at small discounts to Dubai swaps on Tuesday, as traders awaited the release of latest official selling prices (OSPs) from Middle Eastern producers.

Taiwan's CPC did not award its monthly tender seeking sweet crude for November delivery due to weak demand, traders said.

India's HPCL did not award its tender closed last Friday seeking October-loading Murban or Das crude, traders said.

Dubai, as quoted by price-reporting agency S&P Global Platts, rose in August to an average of $43.987 a barrel, the highest since February. 

The United Arab Emirates pumped 2.693 million barrels per day in August, in breach of its OPEC+ quota, after hot weather and people holidaying at home drove associated gas demand for power generation, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. 

South Korean refiners have bought nearly 2 million barrels of Omani crude from Chinese storage tanks in the past two months, seldom seen trades created by low prices and high inventories, according to trade sources and shipping data on Refinitiv Eikon. 

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE:

The official selling price (OSP) of a basket of August-loading Malaysian crude oil grades has been increased by $3.07 to $48.37 a barrel, Malaysian state oil firm Petronas said in a pricing document released on Tuesday. 

ExxonMobil sold a cargo of Indonesia's Banyu Urip crude to Indian refiner Reliance, likely at a small premium of no more than 50 cents to dated Brent, traders said.

Pertamina likely did not award its tender selling Banyu Urip cargoes loading in the fourth quarter, traders said.

 

REFINERY

Australian fuel supplier Ampol Ltd on Tuesday said Chevron Corp had launched court proceedings against it, alleging breaches of a trademark licence deal under which Ampol previously used the U.S. company's "Caltex" brand. 

 

NEWS

Kazakhstan sharply cut shipments of oil to China in July and August as it reduced output under the global producers' pact and because of their low profitability compared with westward shipments through Russia, four industry sources told Reuters. 

Oil and gas companies plunged over $156 billion into corporate takeovers and land deals during the second U.S. shale boom, in a massive bet that good times would continue and crude prices would rise. Many of those deals have become financial albatrosses. 

As major oil companies prepare to spend billions on renewable energy assets to stay relevant in a low-carbon future, the industry's patchy track record on takeovers is a red flag for some investors. 

Catastrophic damage to power lines and communications outages on Monday weighed on U.S. Gulf Coast refineries' post-Hurricane Laura assessments and on offshore oil and gas production.

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