Asia Distillates-Gasoil refining margins climb to over 3-month high

SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Asian refining margins for 10ppm gasoil surged on Wednesday to their highest in over three months, despite steady crude prices as traders were hopeful about a short-term tightness in supply alongside a steady uptick in buying interest.

Refining margins, also known as cracks, for gasoil with 10ppm sulphur content rose during Asian trading hours to $16.19 a barrel over Dubai crude, their strongest since Nov. 21.

The cracks for the benchmark gasoil grade in Singapore, which have climbed about 11 percent over the last couple of weeks, were at $15.89 a barrel on Tuesday.

Crude oil prices rose on Wednesday after a report of declining U.S. crude inventories and as producer club OPEC seemed to stick to its supply cuts despite pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The 10ppm gasoil margins are currently at their highest levels for this time of the year in the last four years, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

The overall middle distillate market in Asia is expected to remain well-supported over the next couple of months as quite a few refineries in the region will be conducting seasonal maintenance, keeping supplies under check, trade sources said.

Meanwhile, benchmark diesel refining margins in northwest Europe had risen on Tuesday as supplies were expected to tighten partly due to lower imports from the Middle East and Asia.

Cash differentials for 10ppm gasoil GO10-SIN-DIF were at a discount of 16 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Wednesday, compared with a discount of 17 cents per barrel a day earlier.

Cash discounts for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF narrowed to 22 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Wednesday, compared with a discount of 26 cents a barrel on Tuesday.

Jet refining margins rose to a week high of $14.29 a barrel over Dubai crude, compared with $14.09 a barrel in the previous session.

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