Tenders for January-loading cargoes were expected this week from Vietnam for the Asian sweet crude oil market, Oceania loading programs for January were finalized and traders watched for the impact of US waivers on Iranian crude barrels, market sources said Monday.
The previous week had seen muted trading activity, particularly for condensate grades, with most December-loading cargoes placed and buyers unwilling to take further volumes due to poor naphtha margins, sources said.
The supply of heavy crude grades was tight compared to light crudes, which was supportive for heavy crude premiums, traders said. While Asian end-users continued to bring in some arbitrage barrels from the West of Suez, they remained keen on barrels closer to home.
Qatar Petroleum for the Sale of Petroleum Products had issued its monthly tender offering deodorized field condensate for January loading, in a tender that will close on November 13. The company did not offer any low sulfur condensate in the tender, though it was unclear why this was so.
South Korean refiners were expected to take most, if not all, of the Qatari condensate, both within and outside the tender this month, sources said. The country's refiners have ramped up their purchases of DFC and LSC in recent months as the next best alternative to Iranian South Pars.
Hanwha Total, for one, more than doubled its imports of Qatari condensate in September, to around 3 million barrels from August, while also importing DFC in September for the first time this year since March.
Hyundai Chemical had also imported around 2.75 million barrels of DFC in September, up from around 1 million barrels per month earlier this year.
South Korean end-users are looking to cover a portion of their monthly condensate procurement with Iran's South Pars condensate after the US announced waivers on Iranian crude purchases on November 5, albeit in greatly reduced volumes than before.
South Korea will only be able to import around 4 million barrels/month of Iranian oil under the waiver, down from as much as 15 million barrels/month at the peak of Iranian purchases, South Korean sources familiar with the matter have told Platts.
A company official at SK Innovation, the country's largest refiner by capacity, said it will continue to diversify supply sources due to the short duration of the waiver.
South Korean refiners and petrochemical companies had spent the months leading up to November, ramping up purchases of second-tier alternatives while sampling and buying previously untested grades. In addition, they can comfortably shift to naphtha from condensate as a feedstock, which was well-supplied in the market.
Results for Vietnamese crude tenders that closed late in October continued to trickle into the market. PV Oil was heard to have sold 250,000 barrels of Thang Long crude for December 14-18 loading, to an oil major at a premium of $1-$1.25/b to Platts Dated Brent crude assessments, FOB Vietnam.
PV Oil also awarded a H1 2019 term tender for Te Giac Trang crude to a domestic end user at a premium of around $3.75/b to Platts Dated Brent crude assessments, FOB Vietnam.
India's OVL sold 700,000 barrels of Sokol crude for loading over January 15-21 to a trading house at a premium of around $4.95/b to the Mean of Platts first-line Dubai assessments in January, CFR North Asia, traders said.
Market sources will be keenly awaiting the results of Pertamina's buy tender for January 10-12 delivery condensate -- the validity expires Monday.
Indonesia has released its official selling price for October-loading cargoes, while Brunei Shell has released its OSPs for September-loading cargoes.
