Middle East Crude-Benchmarks recoup; Rosneft holds back new deals with Indian refiners

SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Middle East crude benchmarks Oman, Dubai and Murban rebounded on Thursday, buoyed by expectations for strong demand in the summer amid record high cracks despite China's re-imposition of COVID-19 restrictions in parts the country.

Shanghai and Beijing went back on fresh COVID-19 alert on Thursday after parts of China's largest economic hub started imposing new lockdown restrictions while the most populous district in the Chinese capital shut entertainment venues. nL1N2XW01L

Taiwan's CPC issued a tender seeking sweet crude for September delivery.

ASIAN REFINING

Asian jet fuel refining profits - already at all-time highs - have enough legroom for more gains in the coming weeks, as relaxed border curbs boost summer travel demand and global airline capacity tops 100 million seats for the first time since early 2020. nL1N2XW0DB

Asia's benchmark jet fuel refining margins, also known as cracks, in Singapore JETSGCKMc1 this week hit a record high of $50.75 a barrel over Dubai crude, according to Refinitiv data that goes back to 2009.

RUSSIAN CRUDE

Russia's Rosneft OJSCY is holding back on signing new crude oil deals with two Indian state refiners, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, as it has committed sales to other customers. nL1N2XW04C

Indian refiners have been snapping up cheap Russian oil, shunned by western companies and countries since sanctions were imposed against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

A lack of new term supply deals with Rosneft may push Indian refiners to turn to the spot market for more expensive oil. It also indicates that Russia has managed to keep exporting its oil despite increasing pressure from Western sanctions to choke Moscow's revenue.

CHINA OIL

China's crude oil imports rose nearly 12% in May from a low base in a year earlier, although refiners were still battling high inventories with COVID-19 lockdowns and a slowing economy weighing on fuel demand last month. nL1N2XW0F8

The world's top crude oil buyer imported 45.83 million tonnes last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday, equivalent to 10.79 million barrels per day (bpd). That compares to 10.5 million bpd in April and to a 2021 average of 10.3 million bpd.

The data also showed refined oil product exports were at 3.27 million tonnes for May, down 40% from the previous year's 5.41 million tonnes. Year-to-date exports were down 38.5%.

WINDOW

Cash Dubai's premium to swaps rose 25 cents to $7.23 a barrel.

PRICES ($/BBL)

NEWS

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories rose unexpectedly last week, while crude in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by a record amount as refiners ramped up production to pre-pandemic levels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday. nL1N2XV1H9

Black Sea CPC Blend crude oil BFO-CPC exports were set to rise to 5.114 million tonnes for July from 4.096 million tonnes in a revised June plan, the schedule showed on Wednesday. nL8N2XV5EA

Private developers of Angola's new $3.5 billion oil refinery are planning to start construction early next year once the site is completely demined, officials at U.S.-led Quanten Consortium said, in an effort to reduce reliance on imported fuels. nL8N2XU1DB

Iran expects an oil cargo confiscated by Greece to be returned in full, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported Tehran's ambassador to Athens as saying on Thursday, following a Greek court ruling quashing the original decision to confiscate. nL8N2XW15D

After being deeply discounted for years because of a lack of pipelines, Canadian heavy crude is finally trading like a "North American" grade, moving in tandem with U.S. sour crudes sold on the Gulf Coast after Enbridge Inc ENB expanded its Line 3 pipeline late last year. nL1N2XU1P2

Venezuela's state-run PDVSA last month began switching most oil sales to prepayment, requiring spot cargo buyers pay in full before tankers can set sail after several recent defaults, three people close to the decision said. nL1N2XU1LP

For crude prices, oil product cracks and refining margins, please click on the RICs below.

(Reporting by Muyu Xu; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

((muyu.xu@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 56692117;))

CRUDE OIL MARKET NEWS      
Crude oil tenders in Asia                       CRU/TENDA
Crude oil supply outages in Asia                CRU/OUT-ASIA-O      
Refinery outages in Asia                        REF/OUT-ASIA-O      
Global arbitrage news and flows                 O/CRUDEARB      
W.African crude imports to Asia,  monthly       O/WAFRICA1      
REFINERY MAINTENANCE DIARIES      
Asia REF/A   Middle East REF/ME   Europe REF/E      
                       
NATIONAL CRUDE IMPORT DATA      
Japan     METI/JP1   China   O/CHINA1      
India     O/INDIA2   S.Korea O/KOREA1      
Indonesia O/INDO1-CRU         
                       
CRUDE OIL INVENTORY DATA      
Japan O/JAPAN1  US EIA/S  Europe O/EUROIL1      
                    
CRUDE OIL PRODUCTION/OILFIELD NEWS      
OPEC output survey OPEC/O          New Africa fields    AFR/NEW 
New projects       ENERGY/NEW      New Americas  fields AM/NEW
CRUDE OIL MARKET REPORTS      
Middle East             CRU/MAsia-Pacific         CRU/AP      
West Africa             CRU/WAF  North Sea            CRU/E      
Asia outlook            ASIA/CRU Europe outlook       EUR/CRU      
Global futures report   O/R      Technicals report    O/I      
                            
PRICES      
For all Official Selling  Prices       OSP/O      
For a POLL on oil  prices              O/POLL      
NYMEX and ICE oil  futures             OILOIL      
TOCOM crude oil  futures               0#JCO:      
Dubai, Oman swaps and  spread          ASIA/SWAP/CRUDE      
Middle East physical crude diffs       CRUDE/ASIA2      
Australia physical crude, Tapis swaps  CRUDE/ASIA1      
Asia-Pacific physical crude            CRUDE/ASIA3      
All Asian crude oil  differentials     0#C-DIF-A
All Asian crude oil outright  prices   0#C-A