Asia’s middle distillates markets turned volatile amid mixed trading sentiment, though outright prices and window cash premiums climbed week on week on Friday – with margins hitting a five-month high.
February refiner sales, especially from South Korea, were mostly underway. Deal prices were mixed given the market’s volatility throughout the course of the trading week.
A portion of the market remained cautious given the ample regional supplies in the near-term until February, though talks of refinery shutdowns and run cuts starting March were in focus.
The surge in fixed prices the past few trading sessions eroded the market’s sale premiums slightly, with spot sale prices coming down towards late week by 30-40 cents a barrel.
Complex refining margins dipped to a discount of 19 cents a barrel, the lowest since September last year.
Cash premiums (GO10-SIN-DIF) on the trading window, however, remained supported given the paper market’s backwardation and robust buying interest for February parcels.
Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) closed the trading session at $17.50 a barrel, the highest this week.
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) widened to discounts of $1.9 a barrel, reflecting the gains in gasoil paper markets and limited fluctuations in jet fuel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– Two gasoil deals, one jet fuel deal.
INVENTORIES
– Gasoil stocks held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub rose by 3.7% to 2.56 million tons on limited trading activity.
NEWS
– China’s oil refinery throughput in 2024 fell for the first time in more than two decades barring the pandemic-hit year of 2022, government data showed on Friday, as plants tempered operations in response to stagnant fuel demand and depressed margins.
– Oil prices rose on Friday, heading for a fourth consecutive week of gains as the latest U.S. sanctions on Russian energy trade hit supply, pushing up spot trade prices and shipping rates.
– Global diesel prices and refining margins spiked following the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Russia’s oil trade on expectations the measures would tighten supplies, according to analysts and LSEG data.
– OPEC’s share in India’s crude oil imports edged higher in 2024, rising for the first time in nine years, after top supplier Russia’s share dipped, data obtained from trade sources showed.
Source: Reuters