Asian fuel-oil refining margins gained for a second day amid speculation that imports into Singapore may fall. Naphtha’s premium to Brent snapped three days of declines after Royal Dutch Shell Plc purchased a cargo. Light Distillates The premium of naphtha for delivery to Japan to Brent crude widened to $147.43 a metric ton at 5:42 p.m. Singapore time from $138.83 a ton at the end of Asian trading yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The premium increased for the first time since Nov. 18. Open-specification naphtha for delivery to Japan rose $8, or 1 percent, to $778.25 a ton, Bloomberg data showed. Benchmark 92-RON gasoline gained 55 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $89 a barrel. Asia gasoline’s premium to naphtha, or the reforming margin, fell to $4.05 a barrel from $4.40, Bloomberg calculations showed. It was at $6 on Nov. 8, the highest this month. A narrowing gap signals naphtha is more valuable to refiners relative to gasoline. Shell bought 25,000 tons of naphtha for second-half January delivery from Noble Group at $780 a ton, the only cargo of light distillates traded today, traders said. Middle Distillates Jet fuel rose 0.2 percent to $95.65 a barrel in Singapore after Glencore International AG bought a cargo from Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Benchmark gasoil with 0.5 percent sulfur was unchanged at $94.40 a barrel from yesterday. Jet fuel’s premium to gasoil, or the regrade, rose to $1.25 a barrel today from $1.10 yesterday, Bloomberg data showed. A wider spread indicates that jet fuel is more profitable to make compared to gasoil. Gasoil’s premium to Dubai crude, the crack spread, widened to $13.06 a barrel from $12.92 yesterday. The 16-month old contango in Dubai oil, the benchmark grade of crude for Asia, has disappeared as a shortage of diesel in China puts a premium on the quickest deliveries of fuel. Glencore bought 100,000 barrels of jet fuel from Shell at a discount of 30 cents a barrel to benchmark quotes for loading between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13, traders said. Mercuria Energy Ltd. bought two cargoes of 0.5 percent sulfur gasoil. It purchased 150,000 barrels from Vitol Group at a discount of 15 cents a barrel to benchmark quotes for loading between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13. Mercuria bought another 150,000- barrel cargo from Total SA at a discount of 20 cents a barrel to benchmark quotes for loading Dec. 20 to Dec. 24. Fuel Oil The Asian fuel oil crack spread, a measure of profit from turning crude into the fuel, gained for a second day. Benchmark 180-centistoke fuel oil’s discount to Dubai crude narrowed to $6.42 a barrel today from $6.98 yesterday, Bloomberg data showed. Benchmark 180-centistoke fuel oil rose 0.6 percent to $483.25 a ton, while the price of 380-centistoke fuel oil, mainly used as marine fuel, gained 0.7 percent to $474 a ton. Refinery News PT Pertamina, Indonesia’s state oil and gas company, said its Balongan refinery is operating normally. A pumping unit was repaired yesterday and output was unaffected as another pump was used, spokesman Mochamad Harun said today. Pertamina has “no plans” to shut down the residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, Harun said. ICIS, a chemical newsletter, earlier reported that Pertamina plans to shut a gasoline-making unit at Balongan today because of technical problems, citing an unidentified company official. To contact the reporters on this story: Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net; Yuji Okada in Tokyo at yokada6@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at crussell7@bloomberg.net

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