Asia’s 10-ppm sulphur gasoil activity stayed muted on Monday for the sixth consecutive session without open market deals, against a backdrop of cautious trading sentiment.

Refining margins were broadly steady from the previous trading session at around $26 per barrel.
Cash differentials for 10ppm sulphur gasoil remained weighed on by persistently competitively-priced offers for second-half March and early April loading.

This was despite fresh estimates of China’s gasoil exports for March and April at around 300,000 tonnes from a handful of trading participants.

Jet fuel refining margins, however, fell at a slightly quicker pace, resulting in a narrower regrade at a discount of $2.20 per barrel.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

– No gasoil or jet fuel deal.

TENDERS

– Taiwan’s CPC Corp offers April-loading gasoil.

NEWS

– Indonesia’s state energy company Pertamina said on Friday its fuel supply remained secure after a fire at its storage station in the capital Jakarta. A spokesperson also told Reuters the company planned to divert the fuel supply for Jakarta from other terminals. The fuel station has a capacity of over 300,000 kilo-litres, according to the country’s energy ministry.

– Top crude exporter Saudi Arabia raised prices for the flagship Arab light crude it sells to Asia for a second month in April, to $2.50 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, Aramco 2222 said on Sunday night.

– India raised its windfall tax on crude oil marginally while cutting the tax on exports of diesel, according to a government notification on Saturday. The windfall tax on crude was raised to 4,400 rupees ($53.87) per tonne from 4,350 rupees, effective immediately, while the tax on diesel export was cut to 0.5 rupees per litre from 1.5 rupees a litre. The government said it scrapped a windfall tax of 1.5 rupees a litre on aviation turbine fuel.

– Oil prices slipped on Monday after China set a lower-than-expected target for economic growth this year at around 5%, and as investors cautiously awaited U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony this week.

– The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Friday that crude oil blending and under-reported oil output were key reasons for recently high adjustment figures in the weekly oil inventory data.
Source: Reuters