Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has sold 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of its new light crude oil for loading in September as the fifth-largest OPEC producer increased exports after the group’s June meeting, trade sources said on Wednesday.
KPC sold six 500,000-barrel cargoes of Kuwait Super Light Crude (KSLC) for loading in September via a tender to end-users in Asia, they said.
South Korean and Japanese refiners bought the cargoes at prices close to those of Saudi’s Arab Extra Light crude, the sources said.
The rise in Kuwaiti supply comes after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers such as Russia agreed to raise output from July by about 1 million bpd as supplies from Libya, Venezuela and Iran decline.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Russia have also increased light crude supplies to Asia, while open arbitrage windows are also allowing more oil from the Atlantic Basin and the United States to head to the region. The abundant supplies have depressed spot premiums in Asia for September-loading cargoes from the Middle East and Russia.
Production of KSLC could reach up to 120,000 bpd, a senior KPC official said last year.
KSLC was first exported in June to Japan.
- Reuters
