SINGAPORE- Middle East crude benchmark Dubai slipped on Tuesday while Oman held steady as traders await tender results to gauge price direction.

A Japanese refiner has bought al-Shaheen crude for October loading at $2.30-$2.40 a barrel above Dubai quotes, traders said, ahead of Qatar Petroleum's tender. The producer has offered three cargoes in the tender that will be awarded later in the day. QP sold last month September-loading cargoes at premiums of $2.40-$2.90 a barrel.

Light grades remained under pressure with Abu Dhabi's Das crude trading at $2.20-$2.30 a barrel above Dubai quotes while Murban traded at a premium of about $2.40, traders said.

Spot premiums for Abu Dhabi light grades have been about 50 cents lower than the previous month, they added.

Taiwanese refiner CPC will close a tender later in the day to buy October-loading sour crude.

 

RUSSIAN CRUDE

Surgutneftegaz has sold another five ESPO crude cargoes at $1.70 to $2.10 a barrel above Dubai quotes, steady levels compared with the first tender, traders said. ChemChina and Vitol bought two cargoes each while Mitsui took one, they said.

 

REFINERY

Both renewable fuel processors and oil refiners are trying to profit off the growing market for sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel, but high prices for feedstocks such as soybean oil have been more of a hazard for refiners, as their most recent earnings showed. 

 

NEWS

OPEC and its allies, including Russia, believe markets do not need more oil than they plan to release in the coming months, despite U.S. pressure to add supplies to check an oil price rise, four sources told Reuters. 

BHP Group has agreed to sell its petroleum business to Woodside Petroleum in a merger to create a top 10 independent oil and gas company worth A$38.5 billion ($28 billion) with growth assets in Australia and the Americas. 

U.S. shale oil output is expected to rise to 8.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, the highest since May 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration's monthly drilling productivity report on Monday.

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

(Reporting by Florence Tan and Olga Yagova; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi) ((Florence.Tan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))