Asia’s middle distillates markets started off the shortened trading week with a flurry of spot sale tenders from northeast Asian refiners, though window activity was slightly muted compared with last week’s closing.
More June spot offers surfaced throughout the trading day, with both CPC Corp and GS Caltex out with their spot sale volumes in line with earlier expectations.
Traders were waiting to see if June spot levels would be similar to a month ago, given the slightly looser supply levels from before.
However, on the trading window, deals and discussions were scant given the wide buy-sell gap – ahead of the assessment month roll over at the end of the week.
The 10ppm sulphur gasoil cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) tracked movements in the paper market structure in the afternoon, closing at 86 cents per barrel, as the bids and offers were minimal on window.
Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) rebounded to $15.5, erasing some of last week’s weakness.
For jet fuel, the Asia-US west coast arbitrage continued to dampen trading sentiment, with shipping enquiries remaining few. Spot cash differentials (JET-SIN-DIF) slipped as lower offers were prevalent on the window
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) widened slightly as a result to discounts of 85 cents per barrel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for both fuels
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude oil and gasoline stocks likely fell last week, while distillate inventories likely rose, a preliminary Reuters poll found on Monday.
REFINERY NEWS
– Chevron CVX is attempting to restart the El Segundo, California refinery after taking units offline last week, sources familiar with plan operations said on Monday.
– Hunt Refining restarted its 50,000-barrel-per-day petroleum refinery in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, over the past weekend after a fire shut down the entire refinery, IIR Energy said on Monday.
NEWS
– Iraq is set to export 3.2 million barrels per day of crude oil in May and June, an Iraqi official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in what would amount to a significant reduction from previous months.
– Japan’s top oil refiner, Eneos Holdings, plans to increase investment in low-carbon energy such as liquefied natural gas and sustainable aviation fuel, while slowing efforts in cleaner alternatives like hydrogen, its CEO said on Monday.
– Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority chief, Osama Rabie, said the authority is considering offering discounts ranging from 12% to 15% on transit fees to help restore traffic in the strategic waterway reeling from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Red Sea shipping.
– Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to hold steady in June, trade sources said on Tuesday.
– The European Union does not intend to revive its imports of Russian energy after a potential peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, the bloc’s Energy Commissioner said on Tuesday.
Source: Reuters