SINGAPORE: Asian gasoil and jet fuel price premiums firmed on Thursday on supply cuts from Japan and Australia due to refinery maintenance, traders said.
The benchmark 500ppm sulphur gasoil gained 5 cents to minus 12 cents a barrel over Singapore quotes while the jet fuel cash differential jumped 16 cents to minus 39 cents a barrel, Reuters data showed.
Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil shut its 120,000-barrel-per-day No.2 crude distillation unit (CDU) at the 220,000-bpd Chiba refinery for scheduled maintenance on May 2, a company spokesman said.
The maintenance is set to last until late June, an industry source familiar with the matter separately told Reuters.
Caltex Australia shut its 109,000 barrels-per-day Lytton refinery in Brisbane for major maintenance which is expected to last about seven weeks, the company said on Thursday.
The refinery is expected to be back online late June.
Arbitrage economics to ship jet fuel and ultra low sulphur diesel from Asia to Europe are also looking profitable, a Singapore-based trader said, which could be stoking interest in barrels in the region.
Shell has provisionally booked the Free Spirit to ship 90,000 tonnes of jet fuel from Sriracha, Thailand to either Singapore or to Europe, shipping fixtures showed.
Singapore onshore middle distillates stocks climbed to a two-week high of 10.891 million barrels in the week to May 6, latest data from International Enterprise showed.
Shipments from South Korea to Singapore increased likely with refineries there returning from maintenance, traders said.
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