The premium of Indonesian Minas crude to front-month May ICE Brent futures fell to a one-month low of 4 cents/barrel on Tuesday after offers from Chinaoil in the Platts Market on Close assessment process failed to elicit buying interest.
Minas was assessed at $107.69/barrel, down $4.87/b from $112.56/b Monday, when it was at a $4.90/b premium to May ICE Brent futures.
The last time Minas's premium was lower was on February 28, when it was assessed at a discount of $2.50/b.
Minas, which has a gravity of 35.3 API and a 0.09% sulfur content, is typically used as a direct-burning crude by Japanese utilities for thermal power generation.
During the MOC process Tuesday, Chinaoil was seen offering a 25,000 barrel Minas partial for May loading but was left standing at the 0830 GMT close.
Trading sources said that overall demand for burning crudes has eased from previous months when there were strong buying interest from Japan to replenish its crude inventory following the drawdown seen during winter.
Minas -- also known as Sumatran Light -- is fuel oil-rich (58%) and yields a fair amount of gasoil (19.2%) and kerosene (about 12.4%). It also yields about 9.4% of naphtha.
The Minas field, located on the eastern coast of Sumatra in the South Sumatra basin, currently produces around 150,000-160,000 b/d, according to market sources.
