Asia’s middle distillates markets closed Friday’s trading session with a lack of window trades for the third straight day, though March jet fuel export sales remained upbeat from some key China oil majors.
Trading activity tapered down as the week went on with some March sales slowing from key refiners and markets awaiting a clearer direction for April’s outlook.
China oil majors were the main sellers actively offering jet fuel spot cargoes for March shipment since the start of the week, with deals mostly at discounts of nearly $1 per barrel.
Separately, China-origin diesel exports for March loading are slated to fall slightly below 500,000 metric tons, while jet fuel volumes stayed elevated at more than 2 million tons.
The diesel east-west arbitrage narrowed week on week, as ICE gasoil prices slipped despite the ongoing bullish trading sentiment west.
At the week’s close, 10ppm sulphur gasoil refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) were at $1.50 lower than a week earlier at slightly below $15 a barrel.
Cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) clawed back earlier sessions’ losses and closed the week at a premium of 30 cents per barrel.
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) widened back to above $1.30 per barrel week on week, reflecting the slightly weaker trading stance for the aviation fuel against a backdrop of ample supplies from China.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for both fuels
INVENTORIES
– Gasoil stocks independently held in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub fell by over 1% on the week to 2.5 million metric tons on Thursday, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
NEWS
– China’s imports of Russian Far East crude and Iranian oil are set to rebound in March as non-sanctioned tankers, drawn by lucrative payoffs, joined the trade replacing vessels under U.S. embargo, trade sources and analysts said.
– OPEC+ is debating whether to raise oil output in April as planned or freeze it as its members struggle to read the global supply picture because of fresh U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, Iran and Russia, eight OPEC+ sources said.
– Indonesia’s state energy firm Pertamina said a fire that broke out at its Cilacap refinery complex on Thursday has been extinguished and the refinery’s operation is not affected, the company said.
– Oil prices eased on Friday, heading for their first monthly drop since November, as uncertainty over global economic growth and fuel demand from Washington’s tariff threats and further signs of a U.S. economic slowdown outweighed supply concerns.
– The cancellation of a license for Chevron CVX to operate in Venezuela could lead to the negotiation of a fresh agreement between the U.S. producer and state company PDVSA to export crude to destinations other than the United States, sources close to the talks said.
Source: Reuters