Crude Oil
Oil futures gained nearly 2% on Friday as comments from a top U.S. official raised optimism for a U.S.-China trade deal. Brent crude futures gained $ 1.02 to settle at $63.30 a barrel. WTI crude rose 95 cents to settle at $57.72 a barrel.
Both benchmarks posted their second straight weekly gain as Brent rose 1.3%, and WTI gained 0.8%.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on Fox Business Network that there was a very high probability the United States would reach a final agreement on a phase one trade deal with China. U.S.-China trade talks were set to continue with a telephone call on Friday.
A monthly report from the IEA weighed on prices, after it estimated that non-OPEC supply growth would surge to 2.3 million bpd next year compared with 1.8 million bpd in 2019, citing production from the United States, Brazil, Norway and Guyana.
U.S. energy firms this week reduced the number of oil rigs operating for a fourth week in a row, cutting 10 oil rigs in the week to Nov. 15. The total count is now 674, the lowest since April 2017.
Money managers raised their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions by 39,995 contracts to 169,386 in the week to Nov. 12, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
Naphtha
No fresh news on the naphtha markets.
The December crack is higher at – $ 3.00 / bbl.
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline crack recovered to a two-session high of $9.26 a barrel on Friday as ongoing refinery maintenance in Vietnam and demand from pockets of Asia erased some of the losses from the last two days. Demand from India, Indonesia and Malaysia was strong recently, soaking up some supplies.
ARA gasoline inventories were at a 15 month low of 785 KT in the week to 14th November.
The December crack is lower at $ 7.15 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Asia’s cash premiums for 10 ppm gasoil inched lower on Friday amid weaker buying interest for physical cargoes, while refining margins for the industrial fuel slipped for a third straight week. Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at 31 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with 32 cents per barrel a day earlier.
Gasoil inventories in ARA dropped for the fourth week in a row to 2.47 million tonnes, a level not seen since March this year.
Cash differentials for jet fuel were at a discount of 60 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, two cents lower than Thursday. Jet fuel cracks rose to $15.21 per barrel over Dubai crude, up from $14.94 per barrel on Thursday.
The December crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is higher at $ 14.55 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $ 15.50 / bbl. The regrade is at $ 1.00 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
The front-month barge 380-cst crack over Brent crudearound its record low touched in the previous session as demand for the fuel continues to fade ahead of a 2020 deadline for shipping firms to switch to low-sulphur alternatives.
The December 380-cst barge crack narrowed its discount to minus $31.86 per barrel, up from a record low of minus $31.99 in the previous session. The barge crack was at minus $28 per barrel at the start of the month.
Residual fuel oil inventories in ARA dropped by 234 tonnes to 874 KT in the week ended Nov. 14, their lowest levels since May this year.
The December 180 cst crack is at -$ 24.00 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.85 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
No fresh action 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.