SINGAPORE: Asian gas oil and jet fuel margins slipped on Thursday on new supplies out of the Middle East, though falls were limited due to a big drawdown in Singapore stocks, traders said.
Singapore onshore gas oil and jet fuel stocks plunged 17 percent to a seven-week low of 10.264 million barrels in the week to March 4, according to latest data from International Enterprise.
Most of the drawdown was due to a spike in diesel shipments to South Africa, with Singapore exporting 148,000 tonnes of the oil product last week, up from the previous week's 11,000 tonnes, data showed.
South Africa's PetroSA continued to seek diesel for late March to early April through spot tenders, which could be shipped from Singapore or India, traders said. The county is experiencing its worst blackouts since 2008, which boosts demand for diesel for back-up power generators.
A rare cargo of 87,000 tonnes of diesel was also shipped to Togo on Africa's west coast, according to data.
Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam imported more diesel from Singapore last week than the previous week, while South Korea exported lower volumes, which also contributed to the fall in stocks.
Myanmar's energy ministry is seeking jet fuel for delivery from April to August, a tender document showed, which could support prices for the fuel.
In the Gulf, state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) has sold its first diesel cargo to be loaded from Ruwais between March 12 and March 14 likely to Petrobras and its first jet fuel cargo to be loaded between March 21 and 23 to Total, traders said.
The initial diesel cargoes being offered do not meet stringent specifications required by Europe and will likely remain in the region or be shipped to Africa, one of them said.
Petrobras could likely ship ADNOC's first diesel cargo to Brazil on workable arbitrage economics, a middle distillates trader said, though this could not be confirmed with Petrobras officials.
Tasweeq is seeking a rare light gas oil cargo for delivery in April, which could likely be due to refinery maintenance, traders said. The company is usually a net exporter of the fuel.
Oil pricing agency Platts said on Thursday it would launch a new Middle East price assessment for 10ppm sulphur diesel from April 1, following growth in production and trade of the fuel in the region.
The new assessment will be based on adding an assessed sulphur differential to its existing benchmark Middle East quotes which is a freight netback from its benchmark Singapore quotes, the agency said.
Myanmar Petroleum Products Enterprise (MPE) is seeking 282,000 barrels of jet fuel with a plus/minus 10 percent operational tolerance for delivery over April 1 to Aug. 31. The tender closes on March 16, with same-day validity.
PetroSA is seeking two cargoes of 11,760 tonnes each of 500 ppm sulphur gas oil for delivery over March 28 to 30 and April 7 to 9. The tender closes on March 9 and is valid until March 10.
Tasweeq is seeking 30,000 tonnes of 500 ppm sulphur light gas oil (LGO) for delivery into Mesaieed over April 25 to 26. The tender closes on March 9 and is valid until March 11.
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