Crude OilNaphthaGasolineDisitllatesFuel OilHedge Strategy

Oil prices rose over 1% on Monday, buoyed by optimism over Chinese demand, continued production curbs by major producers and Russia’s plans to rein in supply. Volumes were, however, muted on Monday because of a U.S. market holiday for Presidents’ Day.

London-traded Brent crude for March delivery settled up $1.07, or 1.3%, at $84.07 a barrel.

New York-traded WTI crude for March delivery, which expires on Tuesday, last rose 85 cents, or 1.1%, at $77.19.

In India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, crude imports rose to a six-month high in January, government data showed.

Asia’s refining profit margin for naphtha extended gains on Monday after posting a weekly gain of 32% on Friday, buoyed by firm demand for first-half May cargoes. The naphtha crack rose by $7.75 to $109.38 a tonne. 

The March crack is higher at -$1.35 per barrel

Asia’s Gasoline crack inched lower at $11.70 a barrel on Monday, although sentiment remained positive amid strong Chinese local demand.

The March crack is higher at $13.85 per barrel.

Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.

Asia’s refining crack for gasoil steadied on Monday after hitting 11-month lows last week, though cash differentials remained weaker on ample regional supplies.

Refining margins for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil were 28 cents higher at $22.33 per barrel.

Cash differentials for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil fell 16 cents to $1.08 per barrel, hitting six-month lows.

Refining margins for jet fuel rebounded from the previous week, at $20.36 per barrel on Monday.

The March crack for 10 ppm Gasoil is lower at $21.90 /bbl. The 10 ppm regrade is at -$2.00 /bbl.

Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.

Asia’s spot 180-cst HSFO cash differential climbed for a seventh consecutive session to a premium of 96 cents a tonne on Monday, after hovering in discounted territory since end-December last year.

The spot cash differential for 180-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) flipped into a premium on Monday as the supply pool for viscosity cutter stocks tightened recently, trade sources said.

The front-month viscosity spread widened to $19 a tonne at the Asia close (0830 GMT), a one-month high.

For very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO), cash differentials were range-bound in premiums of the low $10s over Singapore quotes. The 0.5% VLSFO cash differential stood at $11.50 a tonne on Monday.

The March crack for 180 cst FO is higher at – $14.55 /bbl with the visco spread at $2.95 /bbl.

Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.

No fresh trades for 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 refinery.

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.

Disclaimer : All the views are the author’s personal views. These do not constitute an advice to buy or sell any commodity

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