Asia-Pacific Crude Steady, Conoco Sells Bayu Undan

The Asia-Pacific crude market held steady on Tuesday as traders sought clarity on the supply of June-loading cargoes amid potentially higher Libyan exports.

"We are still not quite sure whether it's for real," said a trader with an Asian refiner, referring to the reopening of Libyan oil ports.

Still, maintenance personnel at Libya's Zueitina oil port were preparing to receive the first oil tanker after rebels had agreed to gradually end their eight-month blockade of four oil ports in the country.

ConocoPhillips sold a cargo of Bayu Undan condensate loading at the end of May at $4-$5 per barrel below dated Brent, traders said.

The cargo had sold later than usual due to weak appetite from refiners shut for maintenance, but the price was roughly in line with the level ConocoPhillips fetched for an April-loading cargo, the traders said.

The buyer was not immediately known, and the details could not be verified.

One cargo of Northwest Shelf condensate loading this month was still in the hands of Woodside, while the company also marketed Pluto and Laminaria condensate for May-loading, traders said.

Brent-Dubai Exchange of Futures for Swaps (EFS), or Brent's premium to Dubai swaps, narrowed 7 cents to $3.45 per barrel.

Tenders
Thailand's PTT issued a tender to buy 1 million barrels of sweet crude for June 1-5 delivery to refiner IRPC. The tender closes on Wednesday with one-day validity.

Market News
Saudi Arabia produced 9.566 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in March, down from 9.849 million bpd in February, an industry source familiar with the matter said.

Qatar has set its March retroactive official selling price (OSP) for its Marine crude at $105.00 a barrel, down $1.50 a barrel from the previous month, Qatar News Agency said.

Kuwait's state oil group has signed contracts to supply Egypt with 85,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 1.5 million tonnes of diesel and jet fuel per year, state news agency KUNA reported on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Florence Tan, editing by David Evans)