Crude prices continued to reverse the violent uptick as markets watched the unfolding of events with concern.
Brent crude futures settled down $1.15, or 1.2%, at $97.93 a barrel on Friday. On Thursday, Brent reached $105.79, the first time it had gotten to $100 since 2014.
WTI crude futures settled down $1.22, or 1.3%, at $91.59. WTI hit a seven-year high of $100.54 in the previous session.
Despite the drop on the day, crude prices still registered weekly gains, with Brent up 4.3% and WTI rising 0.6%.
The number of active US rigs drilling for oil was up by two to 522 in the week ended February 25th.
At a global level, the death toll from the COVID-19 virus rose to 5.97 Million (+6,562 DoD) yesterday. The number of daily deaths crossed 10,000 after a very long period. The total number of active cases fell by 40,000 DoD to 63.66 million. (Click here for details).
Asia’s naphtha crack jumped on Friday and posted a weekly gain of more than 9% as market watchers assessed the impact of Ukraine crisis on supplies from the Black Sea route.
Asia’s naphtha crack surged to $170.13 per tonne, up $4.65 from the last close, and the inter-month time-spread narrowed by $1 in backwardation to $28 a tonne.
Naphtha stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage area dropped to 149,000 tonnes in the week ended Thursday, from 177,000 tonnes in the prior week.
The March crack has plunged to $2.75 per barrel.
Asia’s gasoline crack rose by just 2 cents to $11.35 a barrel.
ARA gasoline stocks fell slightly to 1.191 million tonnes from 1.198 million barrels.
The March crack is higher at 17.00 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Gasoline stocks by region.
Asia’s cash premiums for 10 ppm gasoil edged higher on Friday, buoyed by tight regional supplies and expectations for a steady demand recovery as countries relax COVID-19 restrictions further in the coming months.
Cash differentials for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at a premium of $1.95 a barrel to Singapore quotes, 7 cents higher from a day earlier. The premiums, however, have shed 7% last week.
Refining margins, also known as cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil were at $18.48 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $17.07 per barrel on Thursday.
Gasoil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp refining and storage hub rose 2.9% to 1.6 million tonnes in the week ended Feb. 24, according to Dutch consultancy Insights Global. ARA jet fuel inventories slipped 0.5% this week to 835,000 tonnes.
The March crack for 500 ppm Gasoil is higher at $17.15 /bbl with the 10 ppm crack at $18.15 /bbl. The regrade is at -$3.15 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Global Distillate stocks by region.
Asia’s front-month crack for 0.5% very low-sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) climbed on Friday, posting a fourth consecutive weekly gain, while cash premiums for the marine fuel grade rose on active deals in the physical market. The front-month VLSFO crack rose to $20.61 per barrel against Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, up from $19.48 per barrel a day earlier.
Cash differentials for Asia’s 0.5% VLSFO were at a premium of $16.91 a tonne to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with $16.64 per tonne on Thursday.
Asia’s cash premiums for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) dropped to 65 cents per tonne to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with $1.01 per tonne in the previous session.
Fuel oil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub dropped 1.9% to 987,000 tonnes in the week to Feb. 24, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
The February crack for 180 cst FO is lower at -$9.55 /bbl with the visco spread at $1.90 /bbl.
Click Here for a graphical depiction of Fuel Oil stocks by region.
We will hedge another tranche of March and April 10ppm Gasoil Dubai cracks at current levels of $18.15 and 18.35 respectively. The March hedge will obviously go to settle
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.