The front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps, or EFS, spread narrowed in midmorning Asia trading April 13 but was still above the $3/b mark as tender activity in the Middle East crude oil market commences for June-loading barrels.
The June Brent/Dubai EFS was pegged at $3.07/b at 11 am Singapore time (0300 GMT) on April 13, narrowing 11 cents/b from the Asian close on April 12, S&P Global Platts data showed.
The Brent/Dubai EFS is a key indicator of the spread between light, sweet and heavy, sour crudes, and a narrower EFS makes crude priced against Dubai less economically attractive for Asian refiners compared with Brent-linked ones.
Qatar Petroleum issued its key Al-Shaheen tender, offering cargoes of Al-Shaheen, Qatar Land and Qatar Marine crudes for loading in June.
The tender offers three cargoes of Al-Shaheen crude as well as a cargo each of Qatar Marine and Qatar Land crudes. It closes April 14 with next-day validity.
Amid a widening of the Brent/Dubai spread in recent days, market participants expect increased traction of Dubai-linked crudes in the month ahead.
However, cheaper arbitrage barrels from the West continue to entice buyers in Asia.
Initial talks showed that India's largest refiner Indian Oil Corp. issued two tenders on April 12 seeking various crude grades. However, the information could not be immediately verified.
At midmorning in Singapore, the June/July Dubai time spread was pegged at 42 cents/b, widening 3 cents from the close on April 12, the data showed.
The July/August Dubai time spread was pegged at 31 cents/b, narrowing 1 cent/b from the previous day.