Crude Oil
Oil prices rose 1 percent on Friday as traders elected not to stay short over the weekend. Brent futures rose 72 cents to settle at $71.55 a barrel. WTI futures rose 31 to settle at $ 63.89 a barrel.
Both benchmarks notched a weekly gain of about 1 percent, which was Brent’s third consecutive week of gains and the sixth straight rise for WTI.
The head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation warned on Friday that renewed fighting could wipe out crude production in the country.
The dollar index slipped to its lowest against the euro in more than two weeks, making crude cheaper for non-U.S. buyers.
On the demand side, Chinese data showed exports rebounded last month, driving U.S. and euro zone bond yields to three-week highs and helping offset weaker imports and reports of another cut in German growth forecasts. ·China’s March crude oil imports fell from the previous month as state-owned refiners began maintenance, but refined fuel exports soared to the highest in at least seven years as a new private refinery ran at full capacity, customs data showed on Friday
Baker Hughes rig count, released late Friday, showed oil drillers added two rigs this week, bringing the total number of active oil rigs to 833. The small increase built upon last week’s 15-rig addition to bring the nationwide oil rig count up to a four-week high.
Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to April 9.
Naphtha
Asia’s naphtha crack rose for the third day to $50.38 a tonne, the highest since April 1 this year. Asia’s top naphtha importer is looking to buy the fuel for second-half May arrival at Mailiao in a tender closing on April 12, with offers valid until April 15, a document showed.
The April crack is steady at -$ 5.90 /bbl. The May crack is at – $ 5.60 /bbl
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline margin hit $9.35 a barrel on Friday, the highest since Aug. 16, 2018
Gasoline stocks held at ARA hub edged up 12 KT or to 1.07 million tonnes but these were still about 18 percent below levels from a year ago.
The April crack is higher at $ 9.60 /bbl. The May crack is at $ 8.40 / bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Cash differentials for gasoil with 10ppm sulphur content were at a discount of 32 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with 33 cents on Thursday.
The gasoil market has struggled in recent months as demand remained sluggish on the back of limited arbitrage opportunities and ample supplies in the region. The cash differentials for physical gasoil cargoes in Singapore have stayed at discounts since November and it might take a few more weeks to gather sustainable tightness for the market to flip back to premiums.
Gasoil stocks in ARA fell by 27 KT to 2.7 million tonnes in the week to April 11.
Jet fuel cash discounts narrowed by a cent to 20 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Friday.
The April crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is marginally lower at $ 13.25 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 13.75 / bbl. The regrade is lower at – $ 0.40 /bbl
The May crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is at $ 13.80 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 14.45 / bbl. The regrade is at – $ 0.35 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
Improved fuel oil refining margins on Friday failed to avert a second consecutive week of losses on the back of firmer crude oil prices, while cash differentials for the mainstay 380-cst high-sulphur fuel oil narrowed their discounts.
The more actively-traded 380-cst barge crack to Brent crude for May was at minus $6.19 a barrel during Asian trading, compared with minus $6.40 per barrel a day earlier.
Asia’s 180-cst fuel oil crack to Dubai crude climbed to minus $1.28 a barrel, compared with minus $1.73 per barrel on Thursday.
Cash discounts for 380-cst HSFO narrowed to $2.84 a tonne to Singapore quotes, compared with a discount of $2.97 per tonne in the previous session.
The 380-cst balance-of-April/May time spread remained little changed at a discount of minus $1.25 per tonne on Friday..
Fuel oil stocks in ARA dropped by 33 KT to 898 KT in the week to April 11.
The April 180 cst crack has dropped to – $ 2.35 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.35 /bbl.
The May 180 cst crack is at – $ 1.70 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.30 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
Nothing fresh to report today.
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.