Asia’s middle distillates markets remained upbeat on Friday, given a myriad of discussions and trading activity even for prompt-loading cargoes, as traders were still expecting tight supply-demand fundamentals to prevail in the near term.

More refiners offered spot November cargoes, with deals closing at slight premiums, as evidenced from buyers still covering their near-term requirements.

There are firm expectations of more swing supplies from the Middle East and India bound for southeast Asia instead of the west, given the recent buying strength for both gasoil and jet fuel.

It remains unclear how long this can last, though some refinery maintenances are likely to finish by mid-next month, one trade source said.

The east-west arbitrage for jet fuel between Asia and the U.S. west coast also proved supportive for this market. At least one long-range vessel were under negotiations to ship jet fuel on this route in early November.

A lack of China-origin export volumes, with quotas mostly allocated to the gasoline front, further forced some buyers out in the market – which buoyed spot discussion levels. This was particularly prevalent for jet fuel, with traders saying there is a lack of aviation bunkering supply until November.

Refining margins GO10SGCKMc1 fell from the previous session to $13.70 a barrel, but they were higher by around $1 a barrel week-on-week.

On window, a slew of deals resurfaced for 10ppm sulphur gasoil cargoes for early November delivery – with Vitol being the sole buyer. The western trading firm has bought 750,000 barrels of cargoes for Nov. 6-13 loading this week, with overall early November volumes totaling 1.2 million barrels.

Spot cash premiums GO10-SIN-DIF were little changed from the previous trading session at 57 cents a barrel, though they were still up about 8 cents week-on-week.

Regrade JETREG10SGMc1 continued its upward trajectory to closed at $1.05 a barrel, reflecting the improvement in market fundamentals in comparison with gasoil. The spread gained by tenfold from a week earlier.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS O/AS

– Two gasoil deals, no jet fuel deals.

INVENTORIES

– Gasoil stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, were up 1% on stronger imports from the Middle East and Turkey, though imports are expected to slow down.

REFINERY NEWS REF/OUT

– U.S. crude oil refiner Valero Energy Corp said on Thursday it is considering a range of options that could include selling its two California refineries due to growing regulatory pressure in the state.

NEWS

– Russia’s crude oil exports from its three main western ports will drop by 13% in November from the previous month to 1.95 million barrels per day (or some 8 million metric tons) as refinery maintenance season is over, two trade sources said on Thursday.
– India’s Reliance Industries RELI.NS, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, is restructuring its trading operations, including moving most of its Dubai crude oil trading team back to Mumbai, two sources familiar with the plan said.

– Oil prices nudged higher on Friday and are on track for a weekly gain of more than 1%, as tensions in the world’s top oil-producing region, the Middle East, and a restart in Gaza ceasefire talks in the coming days kept traders on edge.

– Indian refiner Hindustan Petroleum HPCL.NS reported an eight-fold drop in second-quarter profit on Friday, hurt by lower marketing margins.

Source: Reuters reported by Trixie Yap and edited by Varun H K