SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai edged down on Thursday, while trading activity began to pick up for the June-loading cycle.

China's Rongsheng Petrochemical bought 6 million barrels of Abu Dhabi's Murban and Upper Zakum crude via a tender awarded late on Thursday, traders said.

It bought Murban and Upper Zakum from Vitol, Upper Zakum from Shell, and Murban from Gunvor, traders said. The deals could not be independently verified by Reuters.

Indian Oil Corp and Indonesia's Pertamina also closed spot tenders to purchase crude.

Al-Shaheen crude cargoes changed hands at around $1.40-$1.50 above Dubai quotes in trades prior to Qatar Petroleum (QP)'s monthly tender, traders said.

 

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE:

ConocoPhillips closed a tender to sell a Malaysian Kimanis crude cargo loading June 3-7. The result is not yet clear.

 

RUSSIAN CRUDE:

Surgut will close its first spot tender later on Thursday to sell three Russian ESPO Blend crude cargoes, loading May 31-June 5, June 3-9 and June 7-14.

ONGC closed a tender to sell a Russian Sokol crude cargo loading June 11-17, with bids valid till later on Thursday.

 

NEWS

U.S. crude oil stockpiles dropped more than expected as refiners increased activity heading into the summer driving season, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. 

Exxon Mobil's Guyana unit said on Tuesday it had reduced crude output at its offshore Liza-1 project to 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), down from 120,000 bpd, due to a mechanical problem with the offshore platform's gas compressor. 

Global oil prices could drop to around $40 a barrel by 2030 if governments push to reduce fuel consumption in step with U.N.-backed plans to limit global warming, a leading energy consultancy said on Thursday. 

Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday the majority of its oil and gas reserves will be produced by 2050, playing down the risk of stranded assets as it prepares to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group used drones and missiles to attack targets in the southern Saudi city of Jazan, it said on Thursday, including one belonging to state oil giant Aramco which caused a fire. 

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