Trading momentum slows, margins rebound by $2 a bbl — TradingView News

Asia’s middle distillates markets lost some trading momentum on Wednesday, amid overall cautious demand-supply expectations for May ahead of some regional holidays in northeast Asia, though margins rebounded.

Activity slowed down slightly as a portion of the market was awaiting for a clearer demand-supply direction for May, though spot sale export volumes for some key refiners especially in South Korea are unlikely to record major changes month on month.

Several regional holidays in northeast Asia in the next two days also affected the overall trading momentum and contributed to declining spot trades.

Spot market differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) were little changed at discounts of slightly more than 30 cents a barrel, with open market still plagued by a stand-off between buyers and sellers for mostly April-loading parcels.

Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) rebounded by almost $2 per barrel, trading the overnight gains in crude futures and ICE gasoil price uptrend.

On the jet fuel front, spot market activity ticked up slightly as some China majors come out with May sell tenders, slightly earlier than expectations, despite the pre-holiday season there.

Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) widened further to a $1.95 discount as a reflection of the slightly weaker jet fuel fundamentals and some confidence on the gasoil front especially on gains in ICE gasoil futures.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

– No deals for both fuels

INVENTORIES

– U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories fell last week, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday.

– Middle distillates stocks rose by more than 1 million barrels to 3.359 million barrels – slightly more than an eight-month high – at Fujairah Oil Industry Zone for the week ended April 1, according to industry information service S&P Global Commodity Insights.

REFINERY NEWS

– Mexico’s state energy company Pemex requested its trading unit to cancel up to 436,000 barrels per day of crude exports this month as it gets ready to process domestic oil at the new Dos Bocas refinery, an internal document seen by Reuters shows.

NEWS

– Nigeria’s Dangote oil refinery started supplying petroleum products to the local market on Tuesday, a company executive and fuel marketing associations said, a major step in the country’s quest for energy independence.

– Russia’s exports of ultra low-sulphur diesel (ULSD) from the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk are set to fall by 16.4% month on month to 1.4 million metric tons in April, down from the 1.73 million tons scheduled for March, two traders said on Tuesday.

– Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical (FPCC) 6505 has restarted operations at the port at its Mailiao oil refinery after closing it as a precautionary measure following a powerful earthquake, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.

– Oil India OIL plans to start its 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) Numaligarh refinery in the northeastern state of Assam by December 2025, its chairman Ranjit Rath said on Wednesday.

PRICES