Crude Oil
Oil markets continued to hold firm as there appeared to be actions being taken at the ground level to implement production cuts. Oil prices were further boosted by the inability of the US Dollar to hold on to its strength.
Brent rose by $ 1.19 / bbl to settle at $ 55.21/bbl while WTI gained $ 1.00 / bbl to settle at $ 51.90 / bbl
In other news, Libya was unable to restart two of its larger oil fields namely Sharara and El Feel, a news which is supportive for crude.
On the bearish side, there was a report of Gazoprom wanting to increase its production by taking up slack from other non OPEC producers. This is not a signal of violation of promised cuts, but goes to show that people are going to be straining to rein in their production, particularly at prices which are 20% higher than before.
The Baker Hughes Rig count increased by 12 to 510 rigs, an indicator that the US is gearing for more domestic oil production.
Naphtha
Naphtha continues to lie in the doldrums with nothing significant to report. Singapore light distillate stocks fell marginally, but there appear to be adequate supplies of Naphtha for the next couple of months at least.
The January crack is showing a value of -$1.4 /bbl
Gasoline
The gasoline market gave up a lot of its gains over last week over the weekend. The product draw was not enough to be convincing participants of strong demand for the product.
The January crack fell to around $11.2 / bbl.
Middle Distillates
Middle distillates gained in strength following the substantial draw in stocks of 1.7 Million barrels. The January crack is valued at $ 11.70 /bbl. However, it needs to be noted that Singapore stocks continue to be higher than the band of the range of the last five years.
The regrade is slowly losing strenghth. The value for January was at a level of $ 1.40 /bbl.
Fuel Oil
Fuel Oil continues to be bullish with no signs of on spec stocks coming in to replenish stocks being used. While stocks are not particularly short (just below the five year average), slow and infrequent arrivals remain a cause for concern.
The January crack is valued at -$0.80 today. February is valued at -$ 1.6 /bbl. Refiners with exposure in fuel oil need to keep monitoring this crack as a down turn in this crack presents a big risk to them.
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.