SINGAPORE, March 25 (Reuters) – Middle East crude benchmarks Oman and Dubai remained rangebound on Thursday, while Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) deepened its supply cuts to Asia in June. ADNOC plans to cut crude oil supplies to Asian customers in June to 10% to 15%, from 5% to 15% in May, several sources with knowledge of the matter said. The supply reduction will apply to the four grades of crude that ADNOC sells to Asia, namely Murban, Das, Umm Lulu and Upper Zakum, they said. ADNOC’s supply reduction was aimed at supporting the market, one of the sources said. “Apparently the market is very fragile,” the source said. Destocking activities and refinery maintenance in Asia have dampened Asia’s demand for incremental supplies from Europe, Africa and the United States, industry sources said. As a result traders were forced to sharply reduce prices for spot cargoes loading in April and May from Europe, Africa and the United States for delivery to Asia. Lockdowns in Europe have also reduced demand, they said. WINDOW Cash Dubai’s premium to swaps rose 29 cents to $1.40 a barrel. PetroChina will receive a May-loading cargo of Upper Zakum crude from Unipec and an Oman crude cargo from Vitol following the trades. Seller-Buyer Price Unipec-PetroChina (Oman) 62.40 PetroChina-Shell 62.25 Hengli-PetroChina 62.40 Reliance-PetroChina 62.40 Vitol-PetroChina 62.40 Lukoil-PetroChina 62.40 Unipec-PetroChina 62.40 Hengli-PetroChina 62.40 Vitol-PetroChina 62.40 Unipec-PetroChina (Oman) 62.25 Unipec-PetroChina (Oman) 62.40 PRICES ($/BBL) CURRENT PREV SESSION DME OMAN 62.21 61.10 DME OMAN DIFF TO DUBAI 1.21 1.26 CASH DUBAI 62.40 60.95 TENDERS Russia’s Gazpromneftegaz has sold an ESPO crude cargo loading in May 1-10 to Unipec at a premium of $1-$1.50 a barrel to Dubai quotes, a trader said. NEWS A container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” sent new shockwaves through global trade on Thursday as officials stopped all ships entering the channel and the salvage company said it may take weeks to free. China’s national offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd 0883.HK reported a 59% plunge in 2020 profit, hitting the lowest since 2017, as the coronavirus pandemic whacked energy prices and hammered fuel consumption. For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below. Brent Dubai DME Oman Brent/Dubai EFS <DUB-EFS-1M> PRODUCT CRACKS Fuel oil crack Gasoil crack Naphtha crack <NAF-SIN-CRK> Complex refining margins (Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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