Asia’s middle distillates markets continued to be in limbo, with discussions remaining minimal on the trading window though a backwardated price structure for swaps eased slightly on Tuesday.
Thin spot trading liquidity continued to be a recurring theme since it was nearing month end, with some traders already readying for September refiner sales activity.
Meanwhile, the diesel east-west price spreads narrowed to their smallest discount since mid-June of around $22 per metric ton given the shaky movements in ICE gasoil futures and overall steadying Asian swap markets.
For July, Saudi Arabia’s diesel and gasoil exports are expected to hit around 2.8 million tons, slightly up from June and at least a one-year high, LSEG and Kpler ship-tracking data showed. At least half of these volumes are destined for European import markets, the data added.
At the market’s close, the 10ppm sulphur gasoil refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) were pegged at $19.8 per barrel, lower from the previous trading session.
On the trading window, deals again remained scant given the buy-sell gap and overall lack of discussions – though lower-priced offers did weigh on spot premiums.
The 10ppm sulphur gasoil cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) dipped to nearly two-week lows of $1.62 per barrel.
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) narrowed slightly to discounts of $2.7 a barrel, strengthening slightly from the previous trading session.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for either fuel.
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, along with distillate and gasoline inventories, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
REFINERY NEWS
– Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy has reduced operations at its 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in the aftermath of new European Union sanctions that targeted the firm, five sources familiar with the matter said.
NEWS
– Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara Energy, recently sanctioned by the European Union, has turned to domestic firm Rediff.com after tech giant Microsoft MSFT.O suspended services, three sources familiar with the matter said.
– Kuwait’s oil minister said Kuwait was optimistic about the fundamentals of the oil market and that OPEC+ decisions were made based on market developments, the state news agency reported on Tuesday.
– Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO has identified several tankers suspected of loading petroleum products illegally from the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor al-Zubair, according to an official letter dated Sunday and seen by Reuters.
– Oil prices were steady on Tuesday amid uncertainty about the global economic outlook following the U.S.-EU trade deal, and as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
Source: Reuters