Gasoil cash premiums climb to near 3-week high

SINGAPORE: Asia’s cash premiums for 10 ppm gasoil continued their gaining streak on Thursday, rising to a near three-week high, while middle distillate inventories in Singapore dropped to their lowest level in a month.

Cash premiums for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content rose for a fifth straight session to $5.82 a barrel to Singapore quotes, up from $5.78 per barrel a day earlier.

Refining margins, or cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil rose to $49.82 per barrel over Dubai crude, compared with $46.34 a barrel on Wednesday. The cracks hit an all-time high of $50.23 earlier this week.

The prompt-month time spread for the benchmark 10 ppm gasoil grade in Singapore remained in steep backwardation to trade at $8.10 a barrel on Thursday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Singapore’s middle distillate inventories dropped 4.1% to 6.99 million barrels in the week to June 1, according to Enterprise Singapore data. This week’s onshore stocks were about 39% lower compared with the corresponding week a year earlier.

Weekly Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged about 7.6 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, rose by 858,000 barrels in the week ended May 27, according to market sources, citing American Petroleum Institute figures.

A Singapore trade data sharing platform backed by banks, commodity houses and state firms has signed up 70 participants as part of the city-state’s attempts to bolster confidence after a spate of commodity trade finance frauds in recent years.

Singapore, one of the world’s biggest commodity trading and financing hubs and the largest bunkering hub, aims to tighten oversight after recent corporate scandals, such as the collapse of one of Asia’s largest oil traders Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd.

No gasoil deals, no jet fuel trade. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members may boost oil output to offset a drop in Russian production, a move that could take some pressure off surging global inflation and pave the way for an ice-breaking visit to Riyadh by US President Joe Biden.

Oil prices fell on Thursday on speculation that Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members may boost crude output to compensate for a drop in Russian production.