Crude Oil
Oil prices fell on Thursday after sources said OPEC may raise output from July if Venezuelan and Iranian supplies fall further and prices keep rallying. Brent futures fell 90 cents to settle at $70.83 a barrel. WTI futures dipped $ 1.03 to settle at $ 63.58 a barrel.
Global oil supply dropped in March as U.S. sanctions and power outages pushed Venezuela’s crude output to a long-term low of 870,000 barrels per day (bpd), the International Energy Agency said on Thursday.
Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA has shipped 1 million barrels of oil to Cuba days after the United States imposed fresh sanctions on vessels and firms involved in exports to the island in an effort to halt oil trade between the political allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed a willingness to hold a third summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but said in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in that Washington would leave sanctions in place on Pyongyang.
Naphtha
Asia’s naphtha crack climbed for a second session on Thursday to $50.33 a tonne.
The April crack has dropped to -$ 5.90 /bbl. The May crack is at – $ 5.65 /bbl
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline margin surged to more than a seven-month high of $8.81 a barrel on demand that resulted in a drawdown of stocks across regions.
Singapore light distillates inventories dropped 7.2 percent or 1.144 million barrels to reach 14.734 million barrels in the week ended April 10.
The April crack is slightly higher at $ 9.10 /bbl. The May crack is at $ 8.45 / bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Cash differentials for gasoil with 10ppm sulphur content were at a discount of 33 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Thursday, against a discount of 32 cents a barrel on Wednesday.
Cash discounts for jet fuel narrowed to 21 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Thursday, compared with a discount of 25 cents per barrel a day earlier.
Middle Distillate stocks in Singapore rose by 199 kb to 11.13 million barrels in the week to April 10, Enterprise Singapore data showed on Thursday.
The April crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is higher at $ 13.30 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 13.80 / bbl. The regrade is lower at – $ 0.35 /bbl
The May crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is at $ 13.90 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 14.60 / bbl. The regrade is at – $ 0.35 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
Asia’s 380-centistoke (cst) high-sulphur fuel oil cash discount continued to widen on Thursday amid persistently weaker demand.
Cash differentials for 380-cst HSFO widened to $2.97 a tonne to Singapore quotes, near levels not seen since June 2016. They were at a discount of $2.66 per tonne on Wednesday.
Fuel oil stocks in Singapore were relatively flat at 21.7 million barrels in the week to April 10, Enterprise Singapore data showed on Thursday.
The 380-cst balance-of-April/May time spread remained in a contango structure to be at a discount of minus $1.25 a tonne. The more actively-traded 380-cst barge crack to Brent crude for May climbed to minus $6.40 a barrel during Asian trading as crude prices slipped on Thursday.
The April 180 cst crack has improved to – $ 2.15 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.35 /bbl.
The May 180 cst crack is at – $ 1.50 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.30 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
Fuel Oil cracks have rebounded today, while Cal-20 distillates have receded a bit.
Hedge recommendations are essentially made for refiners. These are not trading positions as such. The rationale of these positions is to lock in extraordinary levels for the refiner.
Click Here to see how all our recommendations have fared
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.