SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks firmed on Thursday, recovering after two days of losses, underpinned by purchases by Total and Glencore on window.

CHINA: Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, plans to continue to cut its Saudi Arabian crude oil purchases for June and July loadings, after slashing May shipments by 40 percent, two senior executives from the company's trading arm Unipec said. 

"Arab Light's economics are not as good as oil from other Middle East producers. So our refineries have reduced their consumption and we will continue to cut," one of the Unipec executives said.

"We have cut imports in May and we plan to reduce (Saudi oil supply) in June and July," he said, without indicating how much supplies will be cut. "There's no reason to use the oil if the (Saudi) OSPs are high and economics do not improve."

Next month, Saudi Aramco is expected to raise its official prices by at least 50 cents a barrel for June cargoes to track increases in benchmark Middle East crude Dubai this month, said two traders that participate in the market.

RUSSIA: Spot premiums for June-loading Russian crude sold in Asia are holding steady at high levels, supported by firm demand for Dubai-linked grades, trade sources said.

ONGC sold 700,000 barrels of Sokol crude loading between June 29 and July 5 at a premium close to $5.80 a barrel to BP, traders said.

Surgutneftegaz has sold three June-loading ESPO cargoes between June 6 and June 10, June 10-14 and June 15-19 at $3.45-$3.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, they said.

Gunvor bought, on behalf of CNOOC, two cargoes loading on June 6-10 and June 15-19, while Shell took the cargo loading on June 10-14, traders said.

The ESPO Blend crude oil loading plan from Russia's Pacific port of Kozmino was set at 2.4 million tonnes in June compared to 2.6 million tonnes in the May plan, a loading schedule released on Wednesday showed. 

 

REFINERY

Some of China's top refineries will be shut in May and June for maintenance, cutting nationwide throughput by about 10 percent and dampening oil demand in the world's largest crude importer after record run levels in March, according to a Reuters survey.

At least six state-owned and private refiners are planning a full annual maintenance shutdown in the second quarter for 30 days or more, including China's largest refiner Sinopec's Zhenhai unit, a Reuters survey of 11 plants showed.

 

NEWS

India will work to create a network with other major oil buyers in Asia, such as China, South Korea and Japan, to negotiate better terms with sellers, the country's Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in New Delhi on Thursday. 

Smaller independent refiners with less complex facilities are surging in the stock market of late, as investors expect strong earnings growth thanks to the recent fall in price of their primary cost - light, sweet crude oil coming out of West Texas.

Shell on Thursday reported a 42 percent rise in first-quarter profit, its highest in over three years, boosted by higher oil prices and production. 

BP named Helge Lund, a former head of Norway's Statoil, as its next chairman on Thursday, as the British oil major looks to extend a period of rapid growth after recovering from a deadly oil spill in 2010. 

When Pertamina's former chief executive, Elia Massa Manik, was fired on Friday, he became the state energy company's shortest-serving boss in more than a decade.

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