Crude Oil
Oil prices rose and settled higher on Thursday even as the market was devoid of any fresh news that could provide a clear direction. WTI settled up 44 cents at $57.04 /bbl while Brent settled up 87 cents at $63.31 /bbl.
In other news, The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published a report stating that it expects 2018 to be “a closely balanced market” with a surplus of about 200,000 bbls per day in the first half of 2018 and a deficit of about 200,000 bbls per day in the second half of 2018.
Naphtha
The naphtha cracks have weakened even though some fresh demand was seen coming in to the market from petrochemical makers in Japan and South Korea.
The January Naphtha crack is valued lower at $ 3.60 /bbl
Gasoline
Asian gasoline cracks are also valued lower despite inventories falling in key trading hubs. In the week to December 13, Singapore’s onshore stocks of light distillates which mainly comprises gasoline, fell by 9.6 % to a two-week low of 13.673 million bbls. In the ARA hub, naphtha and gasoline inventories declined week on week by 500,000 bbls.
The January crack is now valued lower at $ 11.60 /bbl.
Distillates
In line with naphtha and gasoline, distillate inventories also fell in the trading hubs of ARA and Singapore. In the week to December 13, Singapore’s onshore gasoil and ATF stocks fell 7.8 % to an eight-week low of 10.377 million bbls. In ARA, distillate stocks fell week on week by 900,000 bbls.
The January gasoil crack however continues to slide and is valued at $ 13.45 / bbl. The regrade has also slipped to $ 0.75 /bbl
Fuel Oil
Singapore’s weekly onshore fuel oil inventories fell 4.1 % to a two-week low of 23.214 million barrels in the week to December 13. This fall notwithstanding, onshore fuel oil inventories are currently 12 % higher as compared to the same time last year. In the ARA Trading Hub, the weekly decline in fuel oil inventories was a mere 100,000 bbls.
In other news, the Marine and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced on Thursday that it had invested another S$12 million to boost liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering in the port of Singapore. This is in addition to a S$12 million co-founding programme to support the building of LNG-fueled vessels it launched in September 2015.
The fuel oil cracks continue to strengthen with the 180 cst January crack being valued at 3.40 /bbl with the visco spread unchanged 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