Asia’s middle distillates markets took a slight breather on Tuesday, with prices easing slightly from the previous session, as traders awaited more August refiner spot sales to start.
The east-west price spreads went back to narrower discounts of around $67 per metric ton, tracking the weaker front-month ICE gasoil markets.
Meanwhile, more August spot sales activity will likely emerge this week, as refiners continue their regular export programme.
Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) fell by nearly $1.5 a barrel from the previous trading session to slightly below $19.5 a barrel.
Tracking the weaker paper market structure, the 10ppm sulphur gasoil cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) dipped by 8 cents from the previous trading session. Lower-priced offers also weighed slightly against a backdrop of limited spot buying interest.
For jet fuel, the arbitrage price spreads between Asia and the U.S. West Coast remained marginally possible for sellers considering sending cargoes to the latter.
Shipping fixtures, however, had yet to emerge.
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) narrowed further to discounts of $1.4 a barrel, reflecting the weakness in gasoil markets compared with jet fuel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for both fuels.
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude oil, distillate, and gasoline stockpiles likely fell last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
REFINERY NEWS
– BP’s BP. 440,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Whiting, Indiana, on Monday reported flaring due to operational conditions, the company said.
NEWS
– India’s fuel demand rose 1.9% in June compared with the same month last year. Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 20.31 million metric tons, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.
– Fuel oil imports into the refinery hub on the U.S. Gulf Coast hit a record low in June as tighter global supplies prompted refiners to run more heavy, sour crude.
– Oil prices retreated on Tuesday after rising almost 2% in the previous session as investors assessed new developments on U.S. tariffs and a higher-than-expected OPEC+ output hike for August.
Source: Reuters