Asia’s middle distillates markets were without deals again on the trading window, with spot liquidity remaining thin and traders eyeing further August spot refiner offers.
The east-west price spread narrowed further to discounts of around $31 per metric ton, as Asian August paper markets continued to firm amid expectation of more stock draws for the month given limited swing supply arrivals.
So far in July, there have been no shipments of diesel loaded from Asia-Pacific to northwest Europe, according to shipping data and multiple trade sources.
However, jet fuel exports on the east-west trade route are slated to remain high, continuing the trend from June, given weaker northeast Asian prices, supplies and slightly better arbitrage margins compared to diesel.
Refining margins gained for a second straight session to around $21 a barrel, back to nearly one-month high levels.
On the trading window, deals were again scant but the 10ppm sulphur gasoil cash differentials remained supported, heading back to nearly 1.5-year highs of around $1.45 a barrel given the firm August-September timespread.
Regrade discount widened to more than $2.2 a barrel, the largest discount since early January this year as a reflection of the firmer gasoil paper markets levels.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for both fuels
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell last week as exports rose, while gasoline and distillate inventories rose, prompting some concerns about fuel demand, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
– Singapore’s middle distillates inventories declined for the fourth straight week amid a slight decline in net diesel exports and increase in jet fuel net exports, official data showed on Thursday.
REFINERY NEWS
– Phillips 66 PSX.N has partially shut its 258,500 barrel-per-day Bayway refinery in Linden, New Jersey, after rainstorms in the region caused a power outage at the plant, three sources familiar with the matter said.
NEWS
– India is confident of meeting its oil needs from alternative sources if Russian supplies are hit by secondary sanctions, oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday.
– The average Russian oil price calculated in roubles has stayed below the federal budget’s target for 2025, Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday, adding pressure to the budget that already faces a rising deficit.
– Oil prices edged up on Thursday on signs of easing trade tensions, stronger than expected economic data from the world’s top oil consumers and renewed risks in the Middle East.
Source: Reuters