Abu Dhabi National Oil Co sold at least 12 million barrels of spot crude to Asian
refiners and trading firms at premiums in its latest tender, as
renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities disrupted supplies and sparked a
buying spree, trade sources said on Wednesday.
Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen sharply
since fighting between the United States and Iran intensified
earlier this month. ADNOC has been using a shuttle fleet service
to quietly move crude out of the Gulf and onto other tankers in
the Gulf of Oman although exports have slowed this month.
With shipments delayed and supplies tightening, Asian
refiners have increased purchases of alternative grades as well
as ADNOC cargoes.
Indian Oil Corp purchased 2 million barrels of
Upper Zakum crude for end-August loading at flat or a premium of
$1 to August Dubai quotes on a delivered basis.
Chinese majors – Sinopec’s trading arm Unipec, PetroChina
and Sinochem – bought 2 million barrels of Upper Zakum each at
premiums of around $3 to $4 a barrel to September Dubai quotes,
the sources said. The cargoes will be delivered in September and
October.
Japanese refiner Idemitsu Kosan bought 2 million barrels of
Das crude at a premium of around $1 a barrel to September Dubai
quotes on a free-on-board basis.
The companies typically do not comment on trades.
The tender was the seventh issued by the United Arab
Emirates producer since the start of June. ADNOC offered Murban,
Upper Zakum, Umm Lulu and Das crude for loading between August
and October, according to a tender document.
It was unclear whether any Murban cargoes were awarded. One
trader said ADNOC had sought a premium of around $10 a barrel
for the grade.
The latest awards brought ADNOC’s total crude sales through
the seven tenders to more than 86 million barrels.
Prior to the war, the UAE exported 103 million and 95
million barrels of crude for January and February respectively,
according to Kpler data.
Another trader added that ADNOC has asked South Korean
buyers to improve their bids by Wednesday afternoon to finalize
sales.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu, Florence Tan in Singapore and Nidhi
Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Louise Heavens)