Asia-Pacific Crude-Indonesian down; Sokol at 4-month high

Indonesian crude remained depressed in Asia on Wednesday, a day after flagship Minas fell below Brent for the first time in nearly a year, as supply built on weak Japan demand.

* MINAS

– Minas has fallen below European marker Brent for the first time in nearly a year as demand from Japan slumped, traders said.

The Indonesia Crude Price (ICP), the average of price assessments from Platts and RIM, for Minas was at $115.42 a barrel on Tuesday, 56 cents below the Asian dated Brent, industry data showed.

Bids and offers of Indonesian crude on the Platts and RIM trading platforms have depressed prices for grades such as Minas, Duri, Lalang, Cinta and Ardjuna, traders said, as sellers try to lower the price markers to attract refiners.

Japanese power firms slowed purchases of direct-burning crude late in the third quarter as their storage tanks are full while they burned more of the cheaper liquefied natural gas (LNG) at gas-fired plants, traders said. The restart of two nuclear power reactors also reduced demand for other fuel, they added.

* TENDERS

– Indian state-run explorer Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) sold one cargo of November Sokol crude at the highest premium in four months on strong middle distillates cracks, traders said on Wednesday.

The 700,000 barrel cargo for November 16-19 loading was sold to SK Energy at a premium between $7 and $7.50 a barrel to Oman/Dubai quotes, they said.

* MARKET NEWS

– Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co said it manually shut the 450 megawatt oil-fired No.2 unit at its Kainan power plant on Wednesday afternoon after a brief fire at an electrical current inspection equipment.

– Japan’s biggest utility Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc on Tuesday restarted the 600-megawatt No.1 oil-fired unit at its Kashima power plant in eastern Japan following a fire in the unit’s air-heating system late last month, the company said.

– China’s biggest refineries are set to increase the volume of crude oil processed in September, reversing cuts in the previous two months, a Reuters poll showed, after the startup of a new unit offsets production drops at other plants.

CRUDE                               Price     Prev     Change 

   OCT Brent                           113.94    116.14   -2.20 

   OCT Brent/Dubai EFS DUB-EFS-1M    3.30      3.50     -0.20 

  PRODUCT CRACKS                                         

   OCT fuel oil crack                  -5.58     -5.58     0.00 

   OCT gasoil crack                    19.16     20.14    -0.98 

   OCT naphtha crack                   -6.11     -6.25    +0.14 

  COMPLEX REFINERY MARGINS                               

   Today                               9.68               

   Last 5 days                         9.36               

   Last 365 days                       7.38        

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL4E8K53A020120905

 

Category: ResourceAsia