Crude Oil
Crude prices continued moving up with the US closed for the Thanksgiving holiday as market played on the uncertainty regarding the reopening of the Keystone pipeline. Brent settled 23 cents higher at $63.55 /bbl. WTI continued to set higher levels gaining 54 cents to settle at $58.02 /bbl.
The markets closed early yesterday due to the US Thanksgiving holiday. Trading is expected to be light today as well with the US closing early.
Naphtha
The Asian naphtha crack settled marginally lower yesterday at $125.53 /MT on Wednesday. Premiums for Naphtha continue to be in low double digits range for 1st half January delivery.
The December crack is up at $ 4.20 /bbl.
We would once again recommend a hedge of the crack at this level. The objective of the trade is not to ‘make money’. Rather, these are exceptional levels for cracks so it would be an insurance against cracks dropping.
Gasoline
Asian, light distillate stocks (comprising mainly gasoline and blend components) eased by 255 kb to 11.36 million barrels.
The December 92 Ron paper crack has strengthened to $ 11.65 /bbl.
Distillates
Distillate prices are being supported largely by increased demand in China even as stocks reported a small drop of 260 kb. In addition, widescale buying is being seen in the EMEA region to take care of upcoming turnarounds.
The December 0.05% Gasoil crack has eased to $13.40 /bbl. The regrade has improved to $ 1.00 /bbl.
Fuel Oil
Yesterday’s window saw greater activity in the 180 cSt product as opposed to the 380 cSt material. However, the market is wary of increased flows into the region in December and is hence a little bit suppressed. Stocks showed a small drop of 122 kb and are currently about 1.6% below last year’s levels.
The December 180 cst crack is down at -$ 2.90 /bbl. The visco spread has come in $ 0.60 /bbl.
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