Asia’s middle distillates markets continued to see upbeat activity on the trading window on Thursday, with June refiner sales at almost similar levels from May and cash differentials steadying.
News of more supplies returning in southeast Asia following earlier production hiccups were mixed, with worries of still shaky supply availability in northeast Asia.
Imports of diesel into Singapore are likely to hit a three-month high for May, Kpler shiptracking data showed.
Refining margins dipped further to around $14.8 a barrel, against a backdrop of these concerns.
On the trading window, spot activity for physical cargoes was upbeat, carrying on the momentum from the past few trading sessions.
However, the 10ppm cash differentials held its ground at 76 cents per barrel, as the effect of a weaker paper market structure cancelled out higher-priced deals onscreen.
Jet fuel markets received a boost from positive inventory data in the U.S., though shipping enquiries from Asia to the U.S. west coast remained scant and the arbitrage spread between the two regions narrowed from the previous session.
Regrade discounts widened slightly to discounts of around 65 cents a barrel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– Two gasoil deals, no jet fuel deal
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude stocks and distillate inventories fell last week, while jet fuel demand rose to a five-year high, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
– Singapore’s middle distillates inventories rose for a second straight week as net exports of both diesel/gasoil and jet fuel/kerosene slipped, official data showed on Thursday.
REFINERY NEWS
– Mexico’s state energy firm Pemex said on Wednesday evening that it had addressed two leaks in a pipeline that transports oil from its Akal-C platform to the Dos Bocas Maritime Terminal in the southern state of Tabasco.
NEWS
– Indonesia’s Karimun terminal has ramped up imports of Russian oil products to become a key transshipment hub where traders store cargoes whose countries of origin are rebranded before re-export, according to eight industry sources and ship-tracking data.
– Oil prices rose 1% on Thursday, supported by hopes of a breakthrough in looming trade talks between the United States and China, the world’s two largest oil consumers.
– The oil market appears to be telling Saudi Arabia that its shift to pumping more oil after five years of cutting output was well timed.
Source: Reuters