SINGAPORE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Asia's diesel spot activity off screen stayed upbeat, as a handful of refiners continued their February spot offers, while east-west price spreads widened from the past two trading sessions.
At least two South Korean refiners were in the market to offering end-February shipment cargoes, with discussions underway.
The east-west price spreads came into focus, with traders saying a widening difference between the two regions is likely to prompt more swing suppliers to pivot west in the coming weeks.
February and March east-west price spreads widened to discounts of $32-33 per metric ton, compared with $26-28 a ton last week.
The 10ppm sulphur gasoil refining margins GO10SGCKMc1 gained further to around $19.6 a barrel, a one-month high.
Window spot activity however remained thin, with cash differentials GO10-SIN-DIF gaining 2 cents per barrel in line with the firmer paper market structure.
For jet fuel, the gap between Asia and the U.S. west coast paper markets declined further to below $20 a barrel, Reuters calculations showed.
However, regrade JETREG10SGMc1 gained to higher premiums of 40-50 cents per barrel.
SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS
- No deal for jet or gasoil
INVENTORIES
- Middle distillates stocks held at Fujaiarah Industry Zone rose slightly to 2.566 million barrels, its highest level in a month, for the week ended January 12, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights. FUJAIRAH/
REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT
- Marathon Petroleum Corp MPC.N reported on Tuesday that a fire was extinguished at its 631,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Galveston Bay refinery in Texas City, Texas.
NEWS
- Venezuela's state oil company has begun reopening some of the wells it and its joint venture partners had shut amid a strict U.S. embargo, as crude exports resume with two shipments departed on Monday, three sources close to operations said.
- Indonesia has scrapped plans to increase the mandatory biodiesel mix to 50% this year, maintaining the current blend of 40% palm oil-based fuel and 60% diesel, deputy energy minister Yuliot Tanjung said on Wednesday.
- China's oil imports from Venezuela are expected to slump starting from February as fewer tankers have managed to leave for Caracas' top crude buyer after the U.S. claimed control of the OPEC producer, traders and analysts said.
- China's crude oil imports rose 17% from a year earlier in December, while total imports in 2025 rose 4.4%, government data showed on Wednesday.
PRICES
MIDDLE DISTILLATES | ||||
CASH ($/BBL) | ASIA CLOSE | Change | Prev Close | RIC |
Spot Gas Oil 0.25% | 82.28 | 1.15 | 81.14 | GO25-SIN |
GO 0.25 Diff | -0.11 | 0.02 | -0.13 | GO25-SIN-DIF |
Spot Gas Oil 0.05% | 82.18 | 1.15 | 81.04 | GO005-SIN |
GO 0.05 Diff | -0.21 | 0.02 | -0.23 | GO005-SIN-DIF |
Spot Gas Oil 0.001% | 82.52 | 1.15 | 81.38 | GO10-SIN |
GO 0.001 Diff | 0.13 | 0.02 | 0.11 | GO10-SIN-DIF |
Spot Jet/Kero | 84.18 | 1.07 | 83.11 | JET-SIN |
Jet/Kero Diff | 1.05 | -0.05 | 1.10 | JET-SIN-DIF |
For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. | ||||
Brent M1 | BRENTSGMc1 | |||
Gasoil M1 | GOSGSWMc1 | |||
Gasoil M1/M2 | GOSGSPDMc1 | |||
Gasoil M2 | GOSGSWMc2 | |||
Regrade M1 | JETREGSGMc1 | |||
Regrade M2 | JETREGSGMc2 | |||
Jet M1 | JETSGSWMc1 | |||
Jet M1/M2 | JETSGSPDMc1 | |||
Jet M2 | JETSGSWMc2 | |||
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M1 | GOSGCKMc1 | |||
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M2 | GOSGCKMc2 | |||
Jet Cracks M1 | JETSGCKMc1 | |||
Jet Cracks M2 | JETSGCKMc2 | |||
East-West M1 | LGOAEFSMc1 | |||
East-West M2 | LGOAEFSMc2 | |||
LGO M1 | LGOAMc1 | |||
LGO M1/M2 | LGOASPDMc1 | |||
LGO M2 | LGOAMc2 | |||
Crack LGO-Brent M1 | LGOACKMc1 | |||
Crack LGO-Brent M2 | LGOACKMc2 | |||
(Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
((trixie.yap@thomsonreuters.com;))