Crude Oil
Crude Oil prices continued to climb dramatically in the wake of the political activity in Saudi Arabia. Brent gained $ 2.20 to settle at $64.27 /bbl. WTI too gained $ 1.71 cents to settle at $57.35 /bbl.
The ‘crackdown on corruption’ in Saudi Arabia is largely seen as a move by the crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman to consolidate all power to himself. This is being viewed as Saudi Arabia being likely to be extremely hawkish on prices. There has been no fresh news in the market in terms of supply and demand since Brent was at $ 57 /bbl. This move upward, therefore, could reverse just as fast.
Naphtha
With demand remaining significantly higher than supplies, the premiums being paid by buyers for spot naphtha cargoes, continues to increase, thereby propping up the market. China’s Unipec is heard to have bought a cargo for December 1-25 arrival at a premium in excess of $20 /MT to Japan quotes which is more than double of what it had had paid last month for a November delivery cargo. Similarly, India’s Reliance is understood to have sold 55,000 MT of naphtha for early December loading from Sikka at a premium of about $24 /MT to Middle East quotes, which makes it the highest premium it has received since it sold a cargo for late April 2015 loading.
The paper crack for November is valued at $ 4.10 /bbl.
Gasoline
In absence of any fresh noteworthy news, the gasoline cracks remain stable, being valued slightly higher today. The Platts Asian Trading Window was also silent with no cash trades reported.
The November 92 Ron paper crack is valued higher at $ 12.10 /bbl.
Distillates
Distillate cracks continue to weaken as fresh spot cargoes are offered out of India and Taiwan, in an already oversupplied market. India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) has offered 50,000 MT of 50ppm sulphur diesel for loading from Kochi between November 24-25 and 35,000 MT of the same grade for loading from Mumbai between November 21-24. In Taiwan, CPC Corp has offered 250,000 bbls of 50ppm sulphur diesel for December loading from Kaohsiung in a tender that closes on November 6.
The November gasoil crack has fallen to $ 11.25 /bbl today. The regrade is also lower at $ 1.30 /bbl.
Fuel Oil
The fuel oil cracks have moved lower even as the Platts Trading Window witnessed seven cargoes of 20,000 MT each changing hands on Monday. Mercuria picked up four cargoes whilst BP, Hin Leong and PetroChina bought one each.
The November 180 cst crack is lower at -$2.00 / bbl. The visco spread is also continues to be valued at $ 0.65 /bbl
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.
Disclaimer : All the views are the author’s personal views. These do not constitute an advice to buy or sell any commodity