Asian crude supplies tight. Good, let OPEC ship it's crude over there, Lord knows, we've got enough! <g>
Energy News
Fri, 18 Jun 1999, 8:27am EDT
Asian Crude Rises Amid Sparse Supplies, Higher Futures Prices
Singapore, June 18 (Bloomberg Energy) -- Crude oil prices in
Asia rose today amid sparse supplies of Malaysian and Indonesian
grades, and lower crude futures prices.
In the spot market, Asian benchmark Tapis rose 30 cents to
$17.65 a barrel, while Indonesian Minas was up 20 cents at $17.40
a barrel. Persian Gulf benchmark Dubai Fateh rose 40 cents to
$16.13 a barrel.
July Tapis swaps were valued at $17.35 a barrel, compared
with $17.05 a barrel yesterday. August Tapis swaps were pegged at
the same price as July.
July supplies of Malaysian and Indonesian grades remained
limited. Traders said there were no July Malaysian crude supplies
left on the market and only about 800,000 barrels of July-loading
Indonesian Minas.
In addition, demand for regional grades rose because many
refineries in Japan and Korea resumed production after several
weeks of scheduled maintenance, traders said.
A Singapore-based Japanese trader said crude oil demand from
Japanese refiners and end-users rose because of increased
requirements for air conditioning and motor gasoline during
summer.
Market participants said they expected most refineries to
announce their August crude requirements in the coming days.
Indonesia's Pertamina tender to buy August light sweet crude
supplies closed today. Traders said results will likely be known
on Monday.
August Brent crude oil futures on the Singapore
International Monetary Exchange settled 38 cents higher at $16.88
a barrel.
Still, Asian crude prices were prevented from rising further
amid competition from cheaper Persian Gulf and West African
grades, which, according to brokers, were moving into Asia in
abundant quantities.
A Singapore-based trader said two cargoes of Oman were sold
into China at premiums of 4 cents and 6 cents above the official
selling price. Traders also said there were unconfirmed reports
Chinese buyers purchased one or more cargoes of West African
grades.
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