Crude Oil
Oil prices steadied on Thursday as the escalating trade war between the United States and China weighed on demand expectations a day after prices jumped on a big draw in U.S. crude inventories. Brent crude oil settled down 5 cents at $74.73 a barrel. U.S. light crude was 3 cents lower at $67.83 a barrel..
The U.S.-China trade dispute deepened, with the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on $16 billion worth of each other’s goods. The world’s two largest economies have imposed tariffs on a combined $100 billion of products since early July, and Washington is holding hearings on proposed duties on another $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. China is almost certain to respond.
Yesterday we had reported that Sinopec said it had no intention of buying US or Iranian crude in H2-2018. The statement came from Wu Haijun, chairman of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, so this was really a single Shanghai petchem subsidiary of Sinopec making this statement.
Naphtha
Asia’s naphtha crack eased to a two-session low of $99.38 a tonne on Thursday, dragged down by expectations of higher supplies streaming in from the West, including Europe and the Mediterranean.
The September crack is lower at -$ 0.50 /bbl
Gasoline
Asia’s gasoline crack fell to a 2-1/2-week low of $8.40 a barrel due to ample stocks despite the recent outages in the Middle East and India.
Although Singapore gasoline inventories were lower week-on-week, current levels were still higher than a year ago. The Singapore onshore light distillates stocks, which comprise mostly gasoline and blending components for petrol, eased 370,000 barrels to a six-week low of 13.9 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 22..
The September crack is lower at $ 9.45 /bbl
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Distillates
Asia’s cash premiums for 10ppm gasoil extended gains on Thursday, climbing to their highest in nearly three months on firm demand and no excess of supplies. Cash premiums for 10ppm gasoil were at 31 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes, up from 27 cents in the previous session and the highest level since May 31.
Singapore onshore stocks of middle distillates, which include gasoil and jet fuel, slipped to an 11-week low of 8.808 million barrels in the week to Aug. 22, down 3 percent from the previous week. This week’s onshore middle distillate inventories were 36 percent lower than a year ago for the widest year-on-year deficit in nearly three months. Since the start of the year Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged 9.213 million barrels a week, compared with a weekly average of about 11.963 million barrels in 2017.
The September crack is however higher at $ 15.10 / bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $ 16.00 /bbl. The regrade is flat at $ 0.00 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Fuel Oil
Asia’s fuel oil market held steady on Thursday with 380-cst front-month time spreads unchanged from the previous session, while cash premiums of the fuel rose slightly on higher deal values.
Singapore’s weekly onshore fuel oil inventories dropped 7 percent, or 1.039 million barrels, to 14.233 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 22. This week’s onshore fuel oil inventories were 42 percent lower than a year ago, the widest year-on-year deficit in at least three years and the lowest since July 30, 2009.
The September180 cst crack is higher -$ 3.40 / bbl with the visco spread at $ 1.30 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
Hedge Recommendations
Cal-19 Jet crack is now valued at $18.00 /bbl. As per our recommendation we will sell the crack.
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.