Crude OilCovid StatsNaphthaGasolineDisitllatesFuel OilHedge Strategy

Speculation of a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico, where the bulk of U.S. energy installations are located, helped oil prices to rebound from Thursday’s losses triggered by worries over the Iranian situation.

Brent futures did a final trade of $66.68 prior to the weekend. It settled up $1.33, or 2%, at $66.44. For the week, it lost 3.3%

WTI crude futures did a final trade of $63.87 before the weekend, after settling Friday’s trade at $63.58, up $1.53, or 2.5%. For the week, WTI lost 2.7%.

India’s crude oil processing hit 4.9 MMB/D (~19.89 MMT) in Apr’21 (-1.2% MoM, +35% YoY) with top refiners reducing crude runs as a fierce second wave of coronavirus infections curbs mobility and demand for fuel. India’s exports of refined oil products in Apr’21 fell 35.7% YoY to 3.88 MMT, or 1.02 MMB/D, with analysts saying the drop reflected improved domestic demand after last year’s impact of the pandemic as well as slower global demand for Indian supplies.

US energy firms added 4 oil rigs to total 356 (+119 YoY), the highest since Apr’20, according to Baker Hughes, as higher oil prices prompted some drillers to return to the wellpad.

Money managers cut their net long US crude futures and options positions by 16,431 contracts to total 365,516 in the week to 18 May’21, the US CFTC said on Friday.

At a global level, the death toll from the COVID-19 virus rose to 3.48 Million (+9,865 DoD) yesterday. The total number of active cases rose fell by around 130,000 DoD to 15.45 million. (Click here for details).

India’s New Delhi will start relaxing its strict coronavirus lockdown from 31 May’21 if new cases continue to drop. The lockdown started 20 Apr’21, but new cases have declined in recent weeks and test positivity rate has fallen under 2.5%, compared to 36% last month.

Asia’s naphtha crack fell to $97.63 per tonne on Friday, compared with $98.20 per tonne a day earlier.

The June crack crack is lower at $ 0.35 /bbl

Asia’s gasoline crack slipped on Friday, due to lingering concerns over near-term demand as COVID-19 infections continue to rampage through key regional markets.

Asia’s gasoline crack dipped to $6.29 per barrel on Friday, down from Thursday’s $6.61 per barrel. The crack, however, posted a gain of 38.5% this week due to weaker feedstock crude prices.

ARA gasoline inventories fell by 73 MT to 1.12 Million tonnes last week, data from the Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

The June crack is lower at $8.55 /bbl

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

Cash differentials for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at a premium of 15 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with 17 cents per barrel a day earlier.

Gasoil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped 3% to 2.03 million tonnes in the week ended May 20, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

Cash differentials widened to a discount of 21 cents per barrel to Singapore quotes, the biggest discounts since April 16. Discounts were at 14 cents on Thursday.

US airlines are slowly getting back to pre-pandemic schedules, completing 461,222 domestic flights in Mar’21, higher than in any month since Mar’20 when airlines completed 582,998 flights, the US Department of Transportation said.

The June crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is lower at $6.80 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $ 8.60 /bbl. The regrade is at -$ 0.60 /bbl. 

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

Battered by ample supply and sluggish demand, Asia’s 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) cash differential dropped to a more than nine-month low on Friday, extending losses this week.

The VLSFO cash differential fell to minus $2.85 a tonne to Singapore quotes, down from minus $2.35 a tonne in the previous session and from plus 35 cents a tonne at the start of the month.

Fuel oil stocks in the ARA refining and storage fell 4%, or 51,000 tonnes, to a five-month low of 1.21 million tonnes in the week ended May 20, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global (IG) showed.

The June crack for 180 cst FO is lower at  -$7.40 /bbl with the visco spread at $0.85 /bbl.

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

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 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

Leave a Comment