Crude Oil
Oil futures settled sharply lower on Tuesday, with Brent sinking below $40 a barrel for the first time since June and U.S. crude falling nearly 8% after Saudi Arabia cut its October selling prices and COVID-19 cases rebounded in several countries.
Brent crude fell $2.23 to settle at $39.78 a barrel, while WTI crude fell $3.01 to $36.09 per barrel.
These are the lowest prices seen for Brent since June.
China will impose sanctions on senior US officials who visit Taiwan, and American companies that they have ties with, the editor in chief of the Global Times newspaper said on Tuesday.
covid 19
At a global level, the death toll from the COVID-19 virus rose to 901,071 (+4,475 DoD) yesterday. The total number of active cases was around 1,000 higher at 7,004,978. (Click here for details).
Naphtha
Asia’s naphtha crack recovered on Tuesday to hit a two-month high on rising demand.
Supplies are expected to be tight due to lower cargoes seen arriving next month from Europe, Mediterranean and the United States. East-bound cargoes arriving this month have also been lower-than-expected at 1.6 million tonnes versus an initial assessment of 1.9 million tonnes.
The October crack is higher at $ 2.15 / bbl.
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline crack fell on Tuesday from a near two-week high, as concerns over demand grew now that the summer driving season in the United States has ended. Asia’s gasoline crack fell by about 3% to reach a two-session low of $2.93 a barrel.
The October crack is higher at $ 3.70 / bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil climbed on Monday, partly helped by weaker raw material crude prices, but the market for the industrial fuel remains pressured by abundant supplies and lacklustre demand.
Refining profit margins for 10 ppm gasoil rose to $3.76 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $3.46 per barrel on Friday. Cracks for the benchmark gasoil grade in Singapore, which have shed 35% over the last month, remain about 75% lower than the historical average for this time of year.
The October crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is higher at $3.25 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $ 3.75 / bbl. The regrade is at -$ 4.70 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
Hammered by sluggish demand and ample supplies, Asia’s 0.5% VLSFO crack extended its losses on Tuesday, falling for a fourth straight session to a more than two-month low despite falling crude oil prices.
The front-month VLSFO crack against Dubai crude fell to $5.80 a barrel at the end of Asian trading hours, down from $6.09 a barrel in the previous session and its lowest since June 30.
The October crack for 180 cst FO is higher at – $2.50 /bbl with the visco spread at $0.75 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
We will add one tranche of October Jap Naphtha-Dubai at current levels of $2.15 / bbl
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.
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.