Asia Distillates-Activity stays brisk, market remains in discount
SINGAPORE, July 17 (Reuters) -Asia's middle distillates markets continued to see a flurry of deals in the open window, but discount levels remained in almost similar levels from the previous session against a backdrop of ample supply.
Traders were still cautious-to-bearish on the overall market fundamentals, given the weakness in buying interest for August spot cargoes - as evidenced from deals being done at discount levels.
Talks of a switch in dirty to clean tanker usage for the east-west trade flow died down after last month's bullish expectations as there is minimal buying appetite and crude markets seem to have rebounded slightly, two sources said.
Only two vessels so far - Plata Glory and KHK Empress - are shipping gasoil from the Middle East to west of Suez markets, Kpler and Vortexa shiptracking data showed.
Refining margins GO10SGCKMc1 hovered close to a one-month low at $15.76 a barrel, a reflection of the poor demand-supply fundamentals.
Spot market discounts GO10-SIN-DIF closed the trading session lower, reversing some of previous sessions' gains to 16 cents a barrel.
At least five jet fuel cargoes were sold in total for mostly first-half August loading at discounts of $1.50-2 a barrel, as key oil majors SK Energy, GS Caltex and Rongsheng PC were out in the market for spot sales.
Talks of some of these cargoes heading to Japan were prevalent in the market, but details could not be confirmed yet, with an Australia-based refiner also being the possible buyer.
Regrade JETREG10SGMc1 was little changed from the previous trading session at a discount of around $1.10 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Neste will likely supply Pertamina end-August arrival blended sustainable aviation fuel after the refiner sought for spot cargoes earlier.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS
- One 10ppm gasoil deal, one jet fuel deal
INVENTORIES
- U.S. crude oil inventories fell last week while gasoline and distillates rose, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. API/S
- Middle distillates inventories held at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone rose for the fourth straight week to 3.204 million barrels for the week ended July 15, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights. FUJAIRAH/
REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT
- Exxon Mobil shut down its 251,800-barrel-per-day refinery at Joliet, Illinois, due to a power outage after a storm, according to a filing late on Monday.
NEWS
- Japan plans to increase jet fuel production and imports to address a pick up in demand from flights amid a boom in tourism, according to a draft government plan presented on Tuesday.
- Dutch tank storage firm Vopak VOPA.AS it has opened a new office in Tokyo, Japan, to provide terminal infrastructure solutions for a variety of products to be used in the country's energy transition, it said on Wednesday.
- Oil prices eased on Wednesday, with global benchmark Brent hovering near a one-month low hit in the prior session on signs of weakening demand in China, although losses were capped by declining U.S. oil stockpiles. O/R
PRICES
MIDDLE DISTILLATES | ||||
CASH ($/BBL) | ASIA CLOSE | Change | Prev Close | RIC |
Spot Gas Oil 0.5% | 92.11 | -0.88 | 92.99 | GO-SIN |
GO 0.5 Diff | -6.33 | -0.01 | -6.32 | GO-SIN-DIF |
Spot Gas Oil 0.25% | 97.30 | -0.88 | 98.18 | GO25-SIN |
GO 0.25 Diff | -1.14 | -0.01 | -1.13 | GO25-SIN-DIF |
Spot Gas Oil 0.05% | 97.88 | -0.88 | 98.76 | GO005-SIN |
GO 0.05 Diff | -0.56 | -0.01 | -0.55 | GO005-SIN-DIF |
Spot Gas Oil 0.001% | 98.26 | -0.90 | 99.15 | GO10-SIN |
GO 0.001 Diff | -0.18 | -0.02 | -0.16 | GO10-SIN-DIF |
Spot Jet/Kero | 97.12 | -1.01 | 98.13 | JET-SIN |
Jet/Kero Diff | -0.19 | -0.08 | -0.11 | JET-SIN-DIF |
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. | ||||
Brent M1 | BRENTSGMc1 | |||
Gasoil M1 | GOSGSWMc1 | |||
Gasoil M1/M2 | GOSGSPDMc1 | |||
Gasoil M2 | GOSGSWMc2 | |||
Regrade M1 | JETREGSGMc1 | |||
Regrade M2 | JETREGSGMc2 | |||
Jet M1 | JETSGSWMc1 | |||
Jet M1/M2 | JETSGSPDMc1 | |||
Jet M2 | JETSGSWMc2 | |||
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M1 | GOSGCKMc1 | |||
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M2 | GOSGCKMc2 | |||
Jet Cracks M1 | JETSGCKMc1 | |||
Jet Cracks M2 | JETSGCKMc2 | |||
East-West M1 | LGOAEFSMc1 | |||
East-West M2 | LGOAEFSMc2 | |||
LGO M1 | LGOAMc1 | |||
LGO M1/M2 | LGOASPDMc1 | |||
LGO M2 | LGOAMc2 | |||
Crack LGO-Brent M1 | LGOACKMc1 | |||
Crack LGO-Brent M2 | LGOACKMc2 |
Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Tasim Zahid
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.