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ExxonMobil is offering a cargo of 90,000 tonnes of 700-centistoke (cst) fuel oil for delivery in May. Reuters reports.

The high-viscosity parcel is scheduled for loading on May 8-10 from the Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery (SAMREF) in Yanbu, an equally owned joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

The oil major was expected to receive offers by Wednesday 20th April with a deal expected the following day. The cargo will be sold on a free-on-board (FOB) basis in US$ per tonne to Singapore spot quotes.

ExxonMobil previously sold a simlar-sized cargo of 700-cst to Thailand's PTT at a discount of approximately $16 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes, on a free-on-board (FOB) basis. The parcel is scheduled for loading on April 27-29, also from the joint-venture Samref refinery in Yanbu.

Also in April, ExxonMobil sold a 90,000-tonne parcel of 700-cst to energy trading company Vitol at a discount of approximately $25.00-$27.00 per tonne to Singapore spot quotes, FOB.

In March, ExxonMobil sold two 90,000-tonne cargoes for loading from Yanbu on March 6-8 and March 21-23 to Vitol and PTT at discounts of $16.00 per tonne and $17.00-$18.00 per tonne respectively.

With Western arbitrage inflows booked for May at 3.5-3.6 million tonnes so far and six-year high volumes of 4.4-4.5 million tonnes for the second half of March/first half of April period the fuel oil cargo market has weakened in recent weeks. However, exports from Saudi Arabia, the Middle East's largest fuel oil supplier, have fallen in April to 350,000-400,000 tonnes from around 705,000 tonnes in March, partly due to planned refinery turnarounds in the country.

In addition to ExxonMobil's 90,00-tonne cargo offer for May, Saudi Aramco is reported to have offered a 55,000-tonne cargo of 380-cst for loading from Jubail on May 3-5, bringing next month's total of reported Saudi Arabian fuel oil exports to 145,000 tonnes so far.