BLBG: Asia Gasoil Posts Longest Rising Streak Since 2005: Oil Products
Asia gasoil advanced for the eighth week, the longest rising streak since 2005, as crude costs climbed. Naphtha posted its biggest weekly gain since July 2009.
Light Distillates
Open-specification naphtha for delivery to Japan increased 8.3 percent to $949 a metric ton, the biggest weekly gain since July 24, 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Benchmark 92-RON gasoline for loading from Singapore rose 8.7 percent to $117.15 a barrel, the biggest gain since October 2009.
Gasoline’s premium to naphtha jumped to $13.40 a barrel from $12.10 on Feb 18. A wider reforming margin means the profit from turning naphtha into gasoline is increasing.
The premium of Japan-delivered naphtha to Brent crude, or the crack spread, climbed to $100.29 a ton from $98.94 at the end of Asian trading on Feb. 18, according to Bloomberg data.
BP Plc bought 50,000 barrels of 92-RON gasoline loading March 17 to March 21 from PetroChina Co. at $117.40 a barrel, traders said. BP bought a similar 92-RON cargo from Trafigura Beheer BV at $117 a ton.
Middle Distillates
Gasoil, or diesel, with 0.5 percent sulfur, increased $7.95, or 6.9 percent, this week to $124.05 a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Prices gained for the eighth week, the longest rally since July 2005. Jet fuel rose $8.10, or 6.8 percent, from last week to $127.
In Singapore, Vitol Group bought 150,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulfur gasoline from Royal Dutch Shell Plc at 40 cents a barrel below benchmark quotes, traders said. That’s the biggest discount since Feb. 9.
Gasoil’s premium to Dubai crude rebounded 81 cents to $16.40 a barrel at 6 p.m. Singapore time, according to PVM Oil Associates, a broker. This crack spread, a measure of refining profit, was down for a second week.
Jet fuel’s premium to gasoil declined for the third day, losing 25 cents to $2.20 a barrel, PVM said. A narrowing regrade indicates aviation fuel is less profitable than diesel.
Fuel Oil
Asian benchmark fuel oil dropped the most in nine months today. The price of 180-centistoke fuel oil fell 4.1 percent, the most since May 21, to $641.75 a ton, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The price of 380-centistoke fuel oil, mainly used as marine fuel, decreased 3.6 percent to $633.25 a ton.
The benchmark fuel oil’s discount to Dubai crude, or crack spread, narrowed to $8.44 a barrel from $9.88 a barrel yesterday, Bloomberg data showed.
The premium of 180-centistoke fuel oil to 380-centistoke grade, or the viscosity spread, fell $3.5 to $8.50 a ton, the lowest since Jan. 31.
Itochu Corp. sold two cargoes of 20,000 tons of 180- centistoke fuel each to Vitol Group at $7 a ton over Singapore fuel oil assessments for loading from March 12 to March 16, said two traders.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net; Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net