Crude Oil
There was no report for the past couple of days as the author was traveling.
In the midst of a lot of news and action on stocks, currencies and other butterflies fluttering their wings, Brent closed the week at $57.21 /bbl, a gain of 21 cents. WTI too closed $ 53.99 /bbl, up 23 cents.
News emanating from the markets suggests that crude will be hard pressed to continue its upward momentum. Bew are the few of the reasons
- Iran is reported to have sold off 13 million barrels of oil it had held at sea (estimated such stocks were 29 million barrels). This vitiates the spirit of the production cut even as Iran has been allowed to hike its production.
- The Baker Hughes rig count is up to 529 rigs, a number not seen since December 2015.
- A strong dollar is making crude expensive.
Naphtha
Physical Naphtha settled at a near two month high of $ 83.5 / ton on Friday. Cargoes for the second half of February are reported be traded at premium to the marker which has not been seen in a while. Supplies appear to be tighter next month. The February crack is showing a value of of around $ 0.45 / bbl.
Gasoline
The Gasoline market continued its downward slide, weighed down by strong builds in stocks in both, the US as well as ARA. The February crack is showing a value of just under $ 12/bbl
Middle Distillates
Middle distillates too seem to have been depressed by the flood of stocks. The February gasoil crack is showing a value of around $11.60… The Regrade is valued at $ 0.60 /bbl
Fuel Oil
Fuel Oil jumped on Thursday following the sharp drop in Singapore stocks. However, the market still seems wary as the cracks eased off marginally. The February crack is being valued at -$ 1.2 /bbl while March is at -$ 1.8 /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