Asia’s diesel markets were thinly traded on the window for a third consecutive session, with September discussions slowing slightly on Wednesday, while ICE gasoil futures extended declines.
The east-west price spreads are favoring west markets in the short run, some traders said, with values hovering at slightly more than $40 per metric ton discounts in the past three trading sessions.
Trading activity was lacklustre in the window, with a lack of deals plaguing the market again.
The 10ppm sulphur gasoil cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) barely moved at 63 cents per barrel, amid a buy-sell gap.
Meanwhile, refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) slipped again to around $16.3 a barrel.
Shipping enquiries resurfaced for September jet fuel cargoes on the Asia-U.S. west coast route, with the arbitrage price spreads slightly wider since the start of this week.
Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) held steady at discounts of around $1.65 a barrel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS
– No deals for gasoil and jet fuel
INVENTORIES
– U.S. crude, gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.
– Middle distillates stockpiles gained slightly to 1.886 million barrels for the week ended August 25, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.
REFINERY NEWS
– Top U.S. energy producer Exxon Mobil XOM said on Tuesday it has made a final investment decision to reconfigure its Baytown, Texas, complex to increase production of diesel and base stocks.
NEWS
– Oil prices steadied on Wednesday, after falling in the previous session, as investors watched for fresh developments in the Ukraine war and weighed an industry report that showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories.
– India saved billions of dollars by stepping up imports of discounted Russian oil in the wake of the war in Ukraine, but punitive tariffs imposed by the U.S. that came into effect on Wednesday will quickly undo the gains, with no easy solutions in sight.
– Kazakhstan is holding talks to resume oil transit via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Wednesday, citing the Central Asian country’s energy ministry.
Source: Reuters