Asia’s naphtha refining profit margin declined on Tuesday after prices of the light distillate rose in tandem with crude oil benchmarks.
The crack slipped to $57.20 per metric ton over Brent crude, compared with $4.55 per ton in the previous session. Singapore markets were closed on Monday on account of a public holiday.
Geopolitical turmoil continued to cast shadow on Russian fuel supplies. A Ukrainian drone strike caused a large fire in a fuel tank at an oil terminal in Russia’s southern port of Azov on Tuesday, according to Russian officials and a Ukrainian intelligence source.
The port of Azov has two oil product terminals, DonTerminal and Azovproduct, which handled a total of about 220,000 tons of fuel for export during the period from January to May 2024.
Meanwhile, demand for gasoline continued to remain tepid while supplies were abundant in the region, adding pressure to the fuel margin.
“Weak Asian price benchmarks could open up arbitrage opportunities, with volumes headed West assessed at an eight-month high of about 650,000 tons in May,” LSEG Research wrote in a note.
TENDERS
India’s MRPL offered 35,000 tons of reformate for loading during July 6-8 in a tender that closes on Tuesday. The company also offered two cargoes of benzene for July 3-7 delivery in a tender that closing on June 18 with same-day validity.
Vietnam’s Nghi Son offered a cargo of 95-octane grade of transport fuel for delivery during June 25-30 in a tender that closes on Tuesday.
NEWS
– Oil prices were largely stable on Tuesday, as traders awaited signs of a hoped-for summer demand boost to prop up prices even as strong supply threatens to blunt gains. Both benchmarks gained around 2% on Monday, closing at their highest levels since April.
– Shell has agreed to buy Singaporean liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Pavilion Energy from global investment company Temasek in a move the oil major said will strengthen its leadership position in LNG, according to statements on Tuesday.
– China’s gasoline exports stood at 860,000 million metric tons in May, customs data showed, down 36.6% from a year earlier. However, that was still more than twice the level of April’s 400,000 million metric tons, the lowest since July 2015, as the recovering economy led to higher domestic fuel use.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mohi Narayan; Editing by Maju Samuel)