Gulf News reported that Saudi Aramco has sold 80,000 tonnes of 380 centistoke fuel oil for early November lifting from Jubail at a steeper discount versus an earlier deal, reflecting weaker market fundamentals.
Traders said that the cargo, loading on November 2nd is the first for the month and comes after Aramco exported 3 Jubail cargoes for October lifting as peak summer demand for power generation in the Middle East tapered off.
Middle East trader FAL Oil paid a discount of USD 6 per tonne to USD 7 per tonne on FOB basis for the cargo, lower than the discount of USD 2 per tonne to USD 3 per tonne that Vitol paid for an earlier parcel loading on October 30th and 31st. The 2 earlier cargoes were bought by Vitol and Bakri at USD 2.50 per tonne below Singapore spot quotes FOB.
The stream of cargoes from Saudi Aramco's refineries at Ras Tanura, Rabigh, Jubail and its JV plant with ExxonMobil in Yanbu at least 925,000 tonnes so far have hit the highest level for the October month in 5 years due to refinery outages and as power generation needs over the summer eased.
