The narrowing of the WTI-Dubai swaps spread has opened the arbitrage for medium and heavy sour crudes to sail to Asia, trading sources said Thursday.
The December WTI-Dubai swaps spread was talked at about 50 cents/b, levels not seen since the end of October.
"At this level, the arbitrage for Latin barrels to go to Asia is wide open," said a Latin trader. "This arbitrage has been open since the beginning of November but only recently are barrels beginning to move to Asia."
It is estimated that about 4 million barrels of crude are moving from Latin America to Asia.
India's Reliance is loading a VLCC of Colombian Castilla Blend from the Caribbean around December 10, Latin crude market sources said Thursday.
Castilla Blend is loaded in Aframax-sized cargoes from Covenas, Colombia, and then taken to storage in the Caribbean for loading on VLCCs for delivery to Asia.
Cargoes of Castilla Blend have been loaded in the past from Valero's terminal in Aruba, but the Indian refiner also loads from St. Eustatius.
Spot prices for Castilla Blend have been called around January WTI minus $9.50/b to minus $9.00/b on an FOB basis.
Shell also recently loaded a Suezmax-sized cargo of Ecuadorean Napo, from the port of Esmeraldas and is offering that cargo to the Far East.
Shell's 1 million barrel cargo of Napo remains unsold, according to Latin crude market sources. Shell did not comment on a query of whether that Suezmax of crude had been sold.
The spot price for Napo has been called at around January WTI minus $11.35/b on an FOB basis.
Meanwhile, Brazil's Petrobras was also loading a VLCC of Marlim and Roncador around December 14 for delivery to China, Latin crude market sources said.
The December WTI-Dubai swaps spread was talked at about 50 cents/b, levels not seen since the end of October.
"At this level, the arbitrage for Latin barrels to go to Asia is wide open," said a Latin trader. "This arbitrage has been open since the beginning of November but only recently are barrels beginning to move to Asia."
It is estimated that about 4 million barrels of crude are moving from Latin America to Asia.
India's Reliance is loading a VLCC of Colombian Castilla Blend from the Caribbean around December 10, Latin crude market sources said Thursday.
Castilla Blend is loaded in Aframax-sized cargoes from Covenas, Colombia, and then taken to storage in the Caribbean for loading on VLCCs for delivery to Asia.
Cargoes of Castilla Blend have been loaded in the past from Valero's terminal in Aruba, but the Indian refiner also loads from St. Eustatius.
Spot prices for Castilla Blend have been called around January WTI minus $9.50/b to minus $9.00/b on an FOB basis.
Shell also recently loaded a Suezmax-sized cargo of Ecuadorean Napo, from the port of Esmeraldas and is offering that cargo to the Far East.
Shell's 1 million barrel cargo of Napo remains unsold, according to Latin crude market sources. Shell did not comment on a query of whether that Suezmax of crude had been sold.
The spot price for Napo has been called at around January WTI minus $11.35/b on an FOB basis.
Meanwhile, Brazil's Petrobras was also loading a VLCC of Marlim and Roncador around December 14 for delivery to China, Latin crude market sources said.
