SINGAPORE: Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil fell on Thursday, retreating from a record high touched in the previous session, but traders said supplies would remain tight in the near term.
Beijing has told Chinese state refiners to consider suspending exports of gasoline and diesel in April, while European diesel supplies have shrunk following the disruption of Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
Refining margins, or cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil dropped to $35.77 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, down from an all-time high of $44.04 per barrel on Wednesday.
Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content slipped to $7.81 a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with $7.87 per barrel a day earlier.
Aramco Trading Co, the trading arm of world’s No.1 oil exporter, Saudi Aramco, is seeking 1.2 million to 4.6 million barrels of gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content for delivery over March and April via multiple tenders, trade sources said.
The sources said this was a restocking exercise ahead of Ramadan holidays and as Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura refinery will be shut for maintenance from March to mid-April.
Singapore’s middle distillate inventories rose 0.1% to a five-week high of 7.9 million barrels in the week to March 9, according to Enterprise Singapore data. But this week’s stocks were about 45% lower than a year earlier.
Weekly Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged about 7.9 million barrels so far this year, compared with an average of 11.8 million barrels in 2021, Reuters calculations showed.
US distillate inventories, which include diesel and heating oil, fell by 5.2 million barrels in the week to March 4, versus expectations for a 1.9 million-barrel drop, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
China’s independent refiners are set to cut production in coming weeks as a Ukraine-driven surge in oil prices squeezes margins, with a jump over $130 a barrel unnerving producers, trading executives and analysts said.
India’s fuel consumption rose 5.4% in February compared with the same month last year, the biggest year-on-year jump since August 2021, but soaring oil prices could slow the recovery in the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer.
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