Asia Distillates-Gasoil refining margins post weekly rise
Asian refining margins for 10 ppm gasoil rose on Friday, posting their seventh consecutive weekly gain, but the pace of demand recovery is expected to take a hit as several regional economies continue to battle COVID-19 infections.
Refining margins, or cracks, for 10 ppm gasoil rose 25 cents to $6.04 a barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trade, lingering close to a multi-month high of $6.40 touched earlier in the week. "I don't see much movement in the (gasoil) cracks in the last month of 2020. This is because the hope for next year will prevent downside," said Sukrit Vijayakar, director of energy consultancy Trifecta. "There will be no change in physical demand immediately. And traders are not likely to lay on fresh positions this late in the year."
Cracks for the benchmark gasoil grade in Singapore have increased 2.7% this week, which is a weaker growth compared to a 16% rise last week, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. The slowdown in demand from renewed lockdown measures in some markets would increase the regional gasoil surplus, market watchers said, while India's gasoil exports are expected to be elevated in coming weeks with strong refinery runs in the country. Diesel exports from India this month are well on track to exceed November's 2.2 million tonnes, Refinitiv oil research assessments showed. Cash discounts for gasoil with 10 ppm sulphur content were at 11 cents a barrel to Singapore quotes on Friday, compared with a 8-cent discount a day earlier.
Gasoil stocks held independently in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub <STK-GO-ARA> rose 5.4% to 2.6 million tonnes in the week to Dec. 10, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed. - The data showed ARA jet fuel inventories climbed 11.8% to 995,000 tonnes. - Compared with a year earlier, ARA gasoil inventories gained 6.6%, while jet fuel stocks rose 47.2%.
Comments