Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has sold at least 30 million barrels of spot crude to Asian refiners and trading firms so far this month and offered more this week, trade sources said, boosting exports during the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.
The United Arab Emirates producer sold cargoes of Das, Upper Zakum and Umm Lulu crude to refiners in India, China, South Korea and Japan as well as to global trading houses. Some were priced at flat to slight premiums to Dubai benchmarks for loading between June and August, the sources said.
The three crude grades are produced from fields inside the Gulf and must be shipped through the Strait of Hormuz.
The sales were conducted over the past two weeks, ahead of the signing of a preliminary agreement between the U.S. and Iran to end their conflict.
ASIAN BUYERS
Indian state refiners Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp have bought a combined 6 million barrels of Abu Dhabi oil so far this month, the sources said.
The cargoes were sold at parity or premiums of $1–$2 a barrel to Dubai prices on a cost-and-delivered basis via ship transfers at Fujairah, they added.
ADNOC’s sales also included 3 million barrels of Das crude to Japan’s largest refiner Eneos and 1 million barrels to South Korea’s GS Energy.
For Upper Zakum, China’s Unipec, the trading arm of state giant Sinopec, bought 6 million to 8 million barrels, while Vitol took 4 million barrels and Rongsheng Petrochemical 2 million barrels, the sources said.
South Korea’s largest refiner SK Energy bought 7 million barrels of Umm Lulu crude, they added. Some cargoes were sold at premiums, two of the traders said. The companies typically do not comment on commercial sales.
ADNOC offered the cargoes on a free-on-board basis from storage at Fujairah, or from terminals at Zirku or Das Island, as well as via ship-to-ship transfers off the UAE, Oman or Malaysia. Buyers also had the option of cost-and-freight delivery.
ADNOC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since the Iran war began, ADNOC has exported crude and products by switching off transponders to reduce the risk of Iranian attacks, with cargoes either transferred ship-to-ship or sailing directly to buyers.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Siyi Liu and Florence Tan in Singapore. Editing by Mark Potter)