Asia’s 10 ppm sulphur gasoil cash premiums steadied on Wednesday after sliding for four straight sessions, while refining cracks declined further.

Spot cash premiums closed at $1.77 a barrel, while margins continued to slide, dipping below $27 a barrel at the Asia close.
“We expect Chinese exports to weigh further on Singapore cracks, opening the arbitrage to Northwest Europe,” said FGE in a note this week.
Jet fuel also softened, with refining margins sliding to $24.20 a barrel, while cash premiums eased on Wednesday amid a softer market structure.
Meanwhile, the regrade spread widened to $2.52 a barrel.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deal for jet fuel, one deal for gasoil.

INVENTORIES
– Middle distillates stocks held at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone slipped to 1.6 million barrels for the week ended Oct. 16, hitting six-week lows, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.

REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT
– Russia’s offline primary oil refining capacity has been revised up by 14% to 4.6 million metric tons in October from the previous plan, industry sources said and Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday.

OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices surged nearly 2% on Wednesday as tensions escalated in the Middle East after hundreds were killed in a blast at a Gaza hospital, sparking concerns about potential oil supply disruptions from the region.

– China’s oil refinery throughput in September hit a record daily rate, data showed on Wednesday, as refiners increased run rates to cater for strong demand for transport fuel over the Golden Week holiday and improving manufacturing.

– Oil freight rates from Russia’s Baltic ports to India are up some 50% since last week as more shipowners quit the market after the first U.S. sanctions on shipowners carrying Russian crude priced above a G7 cap, three sources said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Varun H K)