Crude Oil
Oil futures edged higher in volatile trade on Monday. Brent crude futures settled at $71.24 a barrel, up 39 cents. WTI crude futures rose 31 cents to settle at $62.25 a barrel.
Prices touched a one-month low following U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat that he may raise tariffs on Chinese goods. Brent sank to $68.79 a barrel, its lowest since April 2. while WTI’s session low was $60.04 a barrel, the weakest since March 29.
The United States is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East to send a clear message to Iran that any attack on U.S. interests or its allies will be met with “unrelenting force,” U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. The development injected a risk premium into the market. Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said he had approved sending the carrier strike group and bombers to the Middle East because of a “credible threat by Iranian regime forces.”
Naphtha
No fresh news on the naphtha market today.
The May crack is lower at – $ 6.55 /bbl
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline crack slipped to a six-session low of $6.11 a barrel as renewed Sino-U.S. trade tensions and ample prompt supplies weighed on market sentiment. The gasoline crack hit at a three-session high of $6.97 a barrel on Friday.
Peak Asian refinery turnarounds in May and June provided some support to market sentiment as refiners are expected to limit fuel output for planned maintenance.
The May crack is lower at $ 5.35 / bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Cash discounts for 10ppm gasoil narrowed to 5 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Monday from 25 cents per barrel on Friday, buoyed by firmer buying interest for physical cargoes in the Singapore trading window.
Cash discounts for jet fuel were at 26 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Monday, versus a 20-cent discount per barrel on Friday.
The May crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is lower at $ 12.95 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 13.60 / bbl. The regrade is steady at -$ 0.25 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
The front-month 380-cst fuel oil (HSFO) barge crack widened its discount on Monday despite falling benchmark crude prices.
The June 380-cst barge crack was at $7.61 a barrel below Brent crude, down from minus $7.50 a barrel on Friday.
The May 180 cst crack is weaker at – $ 3.30 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.70 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
As fuel oil has eased our hedges have all been closed out..
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.