SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmarks weakened for a second session on Tuesday, tracking price cuts by producers, traders said.

Asia's demand for February-loading spot cargoes could be soft because of weaker margins in Singapore and China, while some refiners will reduce imports ahead of scheduled maintenance in March, they said.

ADNOC and Russia have announced specific plans to cut exports in January but traders said the reductions were small and hence unlikely to have an impact in Asia's crude markets.

IRAN: Iran has set the official selling price (OSP) of its Iranian Light grade for its Asian buyers at 30 cents above the Platts Oman/Dubai average for January, $1 lower than the previous month, a price document reviewed by Reuters showed. 

The producer has also cut prices for the other three crude grades it sells to Asia.

The price cuts were in line with Saudi crude price adjustments for January, keeping Iranian oil prices at the largest discounts in more than a decade against Saudi grades for a third consecutive month since November when U.S. sanctions on Iran started. 

The January price for Iranian Light crude remained about 30 cents a barrel cheaper than Saudi Arab Light oil, while Iranian Heavy is around $1.25 a barrel lower than Saudi's Arab Medium grade, according to Reuters calculations.

Iran's Forozan crude is about $1.10 a barrel below that of Arab Medium.

KUWAIT: Kuwait has cut the January official selling prices (OSPs) for its two crude grades for export to Asia, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

The January OSP for Kuwait Export Blend Crude (KEC) to Asia fell by 65 cents a barrel from the previous month to a discount of 35 cents a barrel to the average of Platts Oman and Dubai prices, they said.

The adjustment narrowed the price difference between KEC and Saudi's Arab Medium crude in January to 30 cents a barrel, against 40 cents in the previous month.

The January OSP for Kuwait Super Light Crude (KSLC) to Asia was set at a premium of $1.10 a barrel to the average of Platts Oman and Dubai prices, down $1.65 a barrel from the previous month.

This narrowed its premium to Saudi Arabia's Arab Extra Light crude to 30 cents a barrel, down from 50 cents a barrel since October when Kuwait set the first OSP for the new grade.

RUSSIA: Russia plans to cut its oil output by at least 50,000 to 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, its energy minister said on Tuesday, much less than its target under a global production deal reached last week.

This would mean Russian oil output of about 11.35 million bpd next month, off the post Soviet-record high of 11.41 million bpd, reached in October and down from 11.37 million bpd last month.

Energy Minister Alexander Novak reiterated to reporters that the country planned to cut its oil output gradually.

ASIA-PACIFIC CRUDE: The February preliminary loading schedules for crude and condensate produced in Australia and Papua New Guinea are released and trade is expected to commence shortly.

Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) condensate has seen firm demand from ENOC which has provisionally chartered an Aframax to load oil from Dampier on Dec. 18, a shipping fixture showed. Seller Grade Volume Loading date BP NWS cond 650KB Jan 30-Feb 3 BHP NWS cond 650KB Feb 7-11 Chevron NWS cond 650KB Feb 15-19 Shell NWS cond 650KB Feb 21-25 BHP Cossack 650KB Feb 4-8 Exxon Kutubu 650KB Feb 3-7 Oil Search Kutubu 650KB Feb 19-23 Woodside Pluto 325KB mid-Feb Woodside Wheatstone 650KB mid-Feb Quadrant Energy Van Gogh 350KB mid-Feb

 

WINDOW: Cash Dubai's premium to swaps fell 7 cents to 29 cents a barrel. Unipec will deliver a second Upper Zakum cargo to PetroChina Hong Kong following Tuesday's deals. It is the second cargo delivery between the two companies this week. Seller-Buyer Price Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-PCHK 58.35 Vitol-PCHK 58.35 Reliance-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-PCHK* 58.35 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Reliance-Chevron 58.35 Unipec-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-Total (Oman) 58.55 Unipec-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-BP (Oman) 58.55 Reliance-PCHK 58.35 Unipec-Koch 58.35 *cargo delivery

 

NEWS

Saudi Arabia's oil exports have hit a record high in November, according to data from a leading tanker-tracking company, ahead of an OPEC supply cut deal takes effect next month when shipments from the kingdom are set to fall by more than 1 million barrels per day. 

A general cooperation agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC countries will be signed in three months' time in Saudi Arabia, the UAE's energy minister said. 

Libya's National Oil Co (NOC) on Monday declared force majeure on exports from the El Sharara oilfield, which was seized at the weekend by a local militia group. 

A small amount of crude oil belonging to Shell leaked during a ship-to-ship oil transfer in Brazilian waters last month, the company confirmed to Reuters on Monday. 

Hess Corp and ConocoPhillips expect to produce more oil in 2019 than last year without altering their exploration budget in a big way, the two oil and gas producers said. 

(Reporting by Florence Tan, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3497; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) oil outright prices 0#C-A ))