Asia Distillates: Gasoil cracks gain, cash premiums soar to record high

SINGAPORE: Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil climbed on Monday, while cash premiums for the industrial fuel grade surged to a record high on firmer cargo demand in the physical market amid scarce supplies.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil rose to $30.85 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $26.43 a barrel on Friday.

Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content jumped to $7.91 a barrel to Singapore quotes, an all-time high according to Reuters data that goes back to late 2011. The differentials were at a premium of $7.42 a barrel at the end of last week.

The April/May time spread for 10 ppm gasoil widened its backwardation on Monday to trade at $9.85 per barrel, as against $9.30 per barrel on Friday.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, which oversees the world’s biggest marine refuelling hub, said it is investigating the suspected contamination of bunker fuel supplied to several ships in the port and had ordered supply of the batch to be halted.

At least 14 ships that received tainted high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) from Singapore suffered loss of power and engine problems, fuel and oil testing firm Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) said late last week.

The authority said it was notified of the issue on March 14 and immediately contacted bunker suppliers to stop supplying the relevant batch of fuel, and to inform all ships supplied with the fuel to exercise caution when using it, according to an emailed statement late on Sunday.

No gasoil deals, no jet fuel trades. Europe and Russia will both lose heavily if President Vladimir Putin follows through on his threat to cut gas supplies to countries he judges “unfriendly” unless they pay in roubles.

Even at the height of the Cold War, Moscow never cut gas to Europe, but on Thursday, Putin signed a decree ordering foreign buyers to pay in roubles instead of euros from April 1 or face going without Russian supplies.