SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban jumped on Monday after Chinese refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) received its final batch of import quotas for 2021.
DME Oman's premium rose 47 cents while cash Dubai's premium to swaps gained 75 cents. IFAD Murban's premium to Dubai swaps rose 73 cents to $4.21.
ZPC, operator of China's single largest refinery, has received 12 million tonnes of crude oil import quotas for the rest of 2021.
The new issue, however, brings total crude oil quotas for ZPC to 32 million tonnes for this year, the largest of any independent refiner in China. It also takes the country's overall crude import quota for 2021 to 189.14 million tonnes, up from 184.55 million tonnes in 2020.
"It helps to fuel the sentiment but heard they are not buying much," a trader said, adding the refiner has term supplies and have already bought spot cargoes.
Nevertheless, it sparked a flurry of trade on Platts window with 64 Dubai partials and 5 Oman partials changing hands.
RUSSIAN CRUDE
Spot premiums for ESPO crude eased as most demand has been met, traders said. Gazprom has sold a ESPO crude cargo loading on Dec. 12-22 to a Chinese buyer at $5-$5.50 a barrel above Dubai quotes, one of them said, via a second tender this month. The producer last sold a cargo for Dec. 3-13 loading at a premium of $5.70 a barrel to ChemChina.
WINDOW
Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose 75 cents to $2.88 a barrel. Total receives a December-loading Upper Zakum crude from Shell following the trades, the third cargo for the French major this month.
REFINERY
Indian refiners' crude oil throughput in September edged higher from the previous month, government data showed on Friday, as refineries boosted output to meet surging demand.
NEWS
Saudi Arabia's crown prince said on Saturday the world's top oil exporter aims to reach "net zero" emissions of greenhouse gases, mostly produced by burning fossil fuels, by 2060 - 10 years later than the United States.
China said on Monday it will investigate energy price index providers as it urged coal industry participants to "strictly" meet contractual obligations in its latest bid to tame prices that have hit record highs, pushing thermal coal futures lower.
Exxon Mobil Corp is pursuing carbon capture storage (CCS) hubs across Asia and has started talks with some countries with potential storage options for carbon dioxide, the company's head of low carbon solutions said on Monday.
Indonesia diesel imports in the January to September period fell 18% compared with the same period last year, an official at the country's energy ministry told a virtual conference on Monday.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
