Middle East Crude

In the trade of January-loading Abu Dhabi grades, Das changed hands amid a sense that the value was attractive, and demand for Das was firm in general. Term supply of Das from ADNOC was not plentiful and thus energy companies in Japan and Korea advanced spot purchase. Cosmo Oil bought 500,000barrels of January-loading Das from European Vitol last weekend onwards. GS Caltex purchased one cargo of 500,000barrels each from Briton's Shell and Vitol at premiums in the $0.20's to Dubai quotes.

African/European/Russian/American Crude

　In the trade of Latin grades for Asia, India's Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) purchased 500,000 bbl Argentina's new crude Medanito for January to February arrival. The details for the deal such as the seller and the price were unknown. Medanito is a light sweet crude with an API gravity of 41-42 degrees and a sulfur content of about 0.15%. It seemed this was the first time for the crude to be bound for India. In Argentina, production of oil and gas in the Vaca Muerta Shale field had expanded and the country's state-oil firm YPF was proceeding a plan to expand a pipeline to transport oil and gas from the area.

Asia Pacific Crude

　In trade for January-loading Australian condensates, France's Total Energies had awarded a Ichthys condensate sell tender to one end-user in Australia. It later turned out that the winner was European Vitol and Vitol would bring the cargo to its Geelong Refinery (with production capacity of 130,000 barrels per day) in Australia. The awarded price was said to have been at premiums in the $1's to the $2's to Dated Bernt. Through the tender closed on Tuesday, Total Energies was trying to sell one cargo for Jan 7-11 loading.