Crude Oil
Oil prices continued to rise in thin trade as the market gears up for the planned OPEC cut in supplies. Brent rose by 93 cents to close at $ 56.09/bbl. WTI gained a similar $ 0.88 / bbl to settle at $ 53.90 / bbl.
Stock data from the API should be available late afternoon today to give further direction to final positions for the year.
Naphtha
The Naphtha physical crack continued to gain in strength. However, its gains failed to translate into increase in swap prices. The January crack was valued at around -$ 0.1 /barrel.
Gasoline
The gasoline market is still firm with the January crack still showing a value in excess of $ 13.2 / bbl
Middle Distillates
The gasoil crack for January firmed up in response to China inventory figures for November. China diesel inventories fell to 5.9 million tonnes, down nearly 4% from the same time last year. The January crack was valued at $ 11.70 / bbl with the regrade slightly firmer at $ 1.50 / bbl
Fuel Oil
Fuel Oil prices appeared to be slightly stronger as the market took into account increased demand for the product from South Korea and Indonesia in January. The crack was nearly unchanged at -$1.35 /bbl for January and -$2.2 for February.
We maintain our bias to the downside, which is admittedly contrary to market expectations.
About this blog
This blog post attempts to give a top level summary of the Singapore market goings on to a person who seeks to obtain a directional sense of the market on a daily basis.