Asia’s middle distillates markets recorded an afternoon of thin spot liquidity, with margins little changed from the previous trading session and August spot sales slowing down.

Activity was muted at the start of new trading week and ahead of the month-end, with a portion of the market waiting for a clearer direct on China’s August export barrels – currently estimated at around 600,000 metric tons.

Traders were expecting a third batch of export quotas for China’s refiners only in end-August or September, given that there is a lack of clarity on the government’s stance for export sales in the fourth quarter this year.

Meanwhile, only two of India’s oil majors were offering spot August cargoes in line with their sales plans, though some were expecting domestic demand to improve soon as the monsoon rains come to an end.

Refining margins for the fuel closed the session little changed at around $17.60 a barrel.

Spot cash discounts were stagnant, reflecting the little change in the market’s contango structure of around 12 cents a barrel.

Fresh offers were scant for August shipments as some refiners had cleared a portion of their sales last week.

There were also talks of possibly lower diesel exports from China for August as some oil majors were still mulling their sales allocation amid better domestic demand during the summer, two trade sources said.

Regrade JETREG10SGMc1 narrowed further given the slight strength in demand-supply fundamentals for August.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

– No deals for both fuels.

REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT

– Motiva Enterprises plans to begin restarting the gasoline-producing fluidic catalytic cracker (FCC) at its 626,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Port Arthur, Texas, refinery as early as Saturday, people familiar with plant operations said.

NEWS

– Oil prices rose on Monday, paring last week’s loss, on fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East following a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, which Israel and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

– Nigeria’s major Dangote oil refinery is reselling cargoes of U.S. and Nigerian crude, four trade sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

– Mexico is seeking to import more motor fuel for next year than it had previously planned, to compensate for delays in the startup of its new Olmeca refinery, half a dozen traders said, marking an about-turn by state energy company Pemex
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Varun H K)