Asia-Pacific crude: Pertamina closes crude import tender

[SINGAPORE] Trade on the Asia-Pacific crude market is due to pick up next week as loading programmes and offers for November crude are expected to emerge then.

Indonesian state-owned Pertamina closed its tender seeking two 600,000-barrel cargoes of crude for November delivery on Friday. The tender, which is seeking Doba Blend, Rabi Blend, Nile Blend and Wassana crude, is due to be awarded on Sept 13.

More details on October-loading Malaysian crude have emerged. Murphy Oil and Pertamina are likely to have sold October Kidurong cargoes at premiums in the low-US$3.00 a barrel to dated Brent, although this could not be directly confirmed. Murphy is likely to have sold its Kidurong cargo to Shell, traders said.

Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, or Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), was at US$3.13 per barrel, up 6 cents for November.

Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co said it conducted an emergency shutdown of its oil refining units at its 175,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Aichi refinery in central Japan on Thursday due to a power blackout.

SK Incheon Petrochem, owned by SK Innovation Co Ltd, said on Friday it plans a full shutdown for maintenance from Sept 19 and will resume operations on Oct 28.

India's third biggest crude oil refiner, Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), plans to expand its refining capacity to more than 60 million tonnes annually, or about 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2030, according to a senior company official.

Iran's steep oil output growth has stalled in the past three months, new data showed, suggesting Tehran might be struggling to fulfil its plans to raise production to new highs while demanding to be excluded from any Opec deals on supply curbs.

Two subsidiaries of China Merchants Group, one of China's largest state-owned conglomerates, have set up an energy unit in Singapore to supply marine fuel for the company's shipping fleet as it expands into trading, officials said.

Commercial oil production at the giant Kashagan field in Kazakhstan will begin in November, the chief executive of state oil firm KazMunayGaz said on Friday, which is a slight delay from a previous October target.

India aims to reduce its hydrocarbon imports by 10 percent by 2022 through increasing domestic output, fuel efficiency and the use of alternative energy, its oil minister said on Friday.

SK Innovation Co Ltd, which owns South Korea's top refiner SK Energy, said on Friday it is seeking to expand into the refining and lubricant sectors in co-operation with China's Sinopec Corp.

REUTERS