Brent/Dubai October EFS stays rangebound; Qatar Petroleum issues spot tender

The front-month Brent/Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps was near-steady in midmorning Asia trade Aug. 13 while Qatar Petroleum issued a tender offering crude loading in October.

The October Brent/Dubai EFS was pegged at $3.12/b at 11 am Singapore time (0300GMT) Aug. 13, narrowing 5 cents/b from the Asian close Aug. 12, S&P Global Platts data showed.

The Brent/Dubai EFS is a key indicator of the spread between light, sweet and heavy, sour crudes, and a narrower EFS makes crude priced against Dubai less economically attractive for Asian refiners compared with Brent-linked ones.

Qatar Petroleum issued a tender offering two 500,000 barrel cargoes each of Al-Shaheen crude, as well as a 500,000 barrel cargo of Qatar Land crude for loading in October.

The tender closes Aug. 16 with next-day validity.

Premiums of Al-Shaheen are keenly watched by the market as they are often viewed as indicators for medium, sour grades.

Russia's Surgutneftegaz also issued a tender offering three 700,000 barrel cargoes of ESPO Blend crude for loading in September and October. The tender closes Aug. 13 with same-day validity.

Meanwhile, traders awaited the outcome of the SOMO tender offering 2 million barrels of Basrah Medium crude loading in September.

At midmorning in Singapore, the October/November Dubai time spread was pegged at 63 cents/b, unchanged from the previous day, Platts data showed.

The November/December Dubai time spread was pegged at 58 cents/b, also unchanged from the previous day, the data showed.