Crude Oil
Oil prices hit their highest in about six months on Tuesday as markets pondered about OPEC + actions after the US announcements. Brent crude futures rose 47cents to settle at $74.51 a barrel. WTI futures rose $ 75 to settle at $ 66.30 a barrel.
On Tuesday, Gulf OPEC members said that they were ready to raise output only if there was demand before offsetting any shortfall following a U.S. decision to end waivers for buyers of Iranian crude.
Output in Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter and de facto leader of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, will rise in May, but that it is not related to Iran sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was confident that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will fulfill their pledges to make up the difference in oil markets, a U.S. official told reporters Monday.
China, Iran’s largest customer with imports of about 585,400 bpd of crude oil last year, formally complained to Washington over the move, which a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said “will contribute to volatility in the Middle East and in the international energy market.” The move to increase pressure on Iran came amid other sanctions Washington has placed on Venezuela’s oil exports and as combat threatens to disrupt Libya’s exports.
API data
A massive build in US stocks by the API seemed to make the possibility of crude being in short supply a bit lower yesterday. However this needs to be confirmed by official data. The build in gasoline stocks was also bearish. The small draw in distillate stocks, however was supportive for markets.
Naphtha
No fresh news on Naptha markets.
The May crack is higher at – $ 4.95 /bbl
Gasoline
No fresh news on gasoline markets.
The May crack is lower at $ 7.30 / bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Cash discounts for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at 21 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Tuesday, as against a 26-cents discount on Monday.
Cash discounts for jet fuel widened to 28 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with a discount of 25 cents per barrel a day earlier.
The May crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is higher at $ 12.45 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at 13.15 / bbl. The regrade is lower at $ 0.05 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
Asia’s front-month viscosity spread on Tuesday held at a near 11-month high hit in the previous session amid rising demand, particularly from Pakistan, for low viscosity fuel oil for use in power generation ahead of coming summer months.
Ample supplies of high viscosity fuel oil also contributed to the widening viscosity spread, or the price differential between 180-cst and 380-cst fuel oil. The May viscosity spread was at about $11.25 per tonne on Tuesday. The front-month viscosity spread hit $11.25 per tonne on Monday, its highest since June 5.
The May 180 cst crack is weaker at – $ 3.00 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.80 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
Nothing fresh to report 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 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.