Crude Oil
Crude Oil once again gave up a lot of its gains at the start of the week as the ‘Will they, won’t they” phenomenon reared its ugly head once again.
At the end of the week, the markers were up around 20 cents (Brent) and 13 cents (WT) respectively with the speculators having had a good time in the volatility.
Apart from what OPEC does, there were reports that China’s crude oil imports in October were at their lowest levels in a long time which added to the bearish tone. On Monday morning, Crude is trading around 40 cents lower at the the time of writing.
Naphtha
Trades reported in Naphtha on Friday appeared to be marginally stronger (for delivery in first half of January) as compared to supplies for the second half of December. However, China’s imports for October were, at 339,000 tons were at the lowest levels since May 2015 and 43% lower than the monthly average for the year till date.
The December crack is showing a value of just under $ 1 /bbl
Gasoline
Gasoline exports from China were reported at 871,000 tonnes in October, higher than the monthly average for the year to date by around 13%.
The Gasoline crack for December dropped sharply to around $10.50 / bbl for December.
Middle Distillates
Physical Middle Distillate prices were steady as the market continues to be actively traded. Supplies appeared to be ample as reports showed China had exported around 1.1 million tons in October about 10% highere than their monthly average exports to date.
There were reports of supply disruption of Jet in Melbourne. Airlines were told that they would receive only 50% of their normal requirement while the problem was being sorted out.
However, the gasoil and jet cracks for December plummeted to just under $ 11.0 /bbl for gasoil with the regrade valued at around $ 1.70/bbl.
Fuel Oil
Fuel oil recouped some of its losses on Friday as the physical market showed renewed signs of strength.
The 180 cst fuel oil crack for December recovered to show a value of around -$ 1.00/bbl. The value for the January crack was at – $ 1.80 / 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.