Crude Oil
Oil prices ended little changed on Thursday after OPEC’s lowering of its global demand forecast for 2020 was offset by some European countries saying they would relax coronavirus restrictions.
Brent futures gained 13 cents to settle at $27.82 a barrel, WTI crude futures stayed unchanged to settle at $19.87, its second continuous sub $20 close.
At the end of the trading day, Saudi Arabia and Russia, in a joint statement, said they would continue to monitor oil markets and were ready to take joint measures with the rest of OPEC+ if needed.
A record of 22.034 million people have filed claims for jobless benefits in the US since 21 Mar’20, representing about 13.5% of the labor force, with millions more filing claims last week, almost wiping out all the job gains since the Great Recession.
China’s economy shrank 6.8% in Q1’20 from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, the first such decline since at least 1992 when quarterly GDP records began.
Covid 19
At a global level, the death toll from the COVID-19 virus rose to 145,551 (+10,935 DoD) yesterday, with the total number of confirmed infections at 2,182,823 (+99,497 DoD). (Click here for details).
Naphtha
Asia’s naphtha crack continued its recovery to a 2-1/2 week high at a discount of $22.68 a tonne to Brent crude compared to a discount of $30.90 on Wednesday.
The inter-month spread was at a steep contango of $ 11 / MT
The May crack has dropped to -$4.55 / bbl.
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline crack was at a two-week high as well. The discounts to Brent crude narrowed to $7.99 a barrel compared to a discount of in the previous session.
Singapore’s onshore light distillates inventories surged 14.2% or 2 million barrels to reach a near 13-month high of 16.5 million barrels in the week to April 15, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
The May crack has dropped to -$4.05 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Cash differentials for 10 ppm gasoil were at a discount of $3 per barrel to Singapore quotes on Thursday, compared with Wednesday’s discount of $3.10 per barrel.
Singapore onshore middle distillate stocks jumped 20.3% to 14.9 million barrels in the week ended April 15, Enterprise Singapore data showed on Thursday. This is their highest level in 3 and a half years
Dozens of tankers holding refined products are at anchor in sea lanes around Europe’s main storage hubs, unable to discharge their cargoes as onshore tanks are full to capacity following the collapse in demand linked to the virus crisis.
Jet fuel cracks slipped one cent to $1 per barrel over Dubai crude on Thursday. .
The May crack for 500 ppm Gasoil has improved to $6.40 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $ 8.75 / bbl. The regrade is at -$ 5.15 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
A jump in buying interest for physical cargoes of 0.5% VLSFO in the Singapore trading window helped lift cash differentials of the fuel away from record lows in the previous session but weak deal values kept a lid on gains. VLSFO cash discounts edged up to minus $10.16 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Thursday, up from an all-time low of minus $10.79 a tonne in the previous session.
VLSFO cargoes totalling of 100,000 tonnes were traded in the window, the highest daily volume for the fuel since Jan. 3.
Singapore’s residual fuel oil inventories rose 7% to a three-week high in the week to April 15, official data showed on Thursday, lifted by higher net import volumes and sluggish marine fuels demand. Onshore fuel oil stocks climbed by 1.51 million barrels to 24.541 million barrels, data from Enterprise Singapore showed. Residual fuel stocks were 4% higher than a year earlier.
Singapore oil trader Hin Leong, which has begun talks with lenders to extend its credit facilities, owes $3.85 billion to 23 banks. Ocean Bunkering, a subsidiary of Hin Leong, has informed some customers that it plans to suspend marine fuel deliveries from as soon as Friday.
The May crack for 180 cst FO has eased to -$2.25 /bbl with the visco spread at $0.75 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
No fresh trade for today
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 refinery.
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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.