Crude Oil
Crude prices closed in opposite directions on Monday with Brent settling 36 cents lower at $63.16 /bbl and WTI gaining 2 cents to close at $56.76 /bbl. Market appears to be caught between bullish and bearish developments with neither side being able to considerably outweigh the other. Whilst the rising production in the U.S. was weighing in on prices, ongoing tensions in the Middle East and record long bets by fund managers was providing support to it.
Among the geopolitical tensions are the war in Yemen, escalating discord between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and the recent explosion in Bahrain which was linked to Iran.
As per U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the speculator group has raised its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 37,960 contracts to a total of 381,666 contracts in the week to November 7, making it the highest level since mid-April earlier this year.
Naphtha
The naphtha cracks continue to climb as demand for cargoes continues unabated. Recently, South Korea’s Hanwha Total was heard to have bought a naphtha cargo for second-half December arrival at Daesan at a premium of $13.50 /MT a tonne to Japan quotes. This makes it the highest premium paid by Hanwha Total for a spot cargo since April 2015.
The December crack is valued higher at $ 4.25 /bbl.
Gasoline
The physical Asian gasoline crack touched $11.30 /bbl yesterday, its highest since September 20, earliest this year. The strength is the physical market has helped support the paper cracks as well.
The December 92 Ron paper crack is unchanged at $ 11.90 /bbl.
Distillates
Although the physical distillate market continues to struggle amid poor demand, high inventories and adequate supplies, the paper cracks have managed to climb today.
The December 0.05% Gasoil crack is valued higher $12.35 /bbl with the regrade remaining unchanged at $ 1.45 /bbl
Fuel Oil
Fuel cracks have manged to climb on the back of an an active Platts Trading Window which witnessed a total trade of 100,000 MT. Three 20,000-tonne cargoes of 180-cst fuel oil and another two similarly sized 380-cst fuel oil deals were done yesterday.
The December 180 cst crack has improved to -2.15 /bbl. The visco spread is valued at $ 0.70 /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