Asia Gasoil Discounts Widen; Shell Buys Gasoline: Oil Products
Asia gasoil discounts widened after Glencore International AG bought three cargoes in Singapore, the region’s largest oil-trading center. Royal Dutch Shell Plc bought 95-RON gasoline at a lower price compared with yesterday.
Middle Distillates
Glencore bought three 150,000-barrel cargoes of 0.5 percent sulfur gasoil, or diesel, according to a Bloomberg News survey of traders monitoring transactions on the Platts window. The company received discounts of 30 cents a barrel to benchmark quotes from Chevron Corp. and 50 cents from Vitol Group. That’s a deeper discount than 20 cents yesterday. Glencore also paid BP Plc 40 cents less than quotes for July 20 to July 26.
Separately, China International United Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Unipec, bought 250,000 barrels of gasoil from Brightoil Petroleum Holdings Ltd. at 40 cents a barrel below benchmark quotes, the survey showed.
Gasoil’s premium to Asian benchmark Dubai crude gained 16 cents to $18.59 a barrel at 2:15 p.m. Singapore time, according to PVM Oil Associates, a broker. This crack spread, a measure of refining profit, widened for a fifth day, the longest winning streak in seven months.
Jet fuel’s premium to gasoil rose 10 cents to $1 a barrel, PVM said. A rising regrade shows it’s profitable to produce aviation fuel.
Shell sold two jet-fuel cargoes in Singapore, according to the survey. The company sold to Hin Leong Trading Pte at 50 cents a barrel below benchmark quotes and to BP at 30 cents below July quotes.
Fuel oil’s discount to Dubai crude narrowed 16 cents to $6.70 a barrel at 2:15 p.m. Singapore time, according to PVM. The difference yesterday was the widest since June 16, signaling growing losses for refiners turning oil into residual products.
The premium of 180-centistoke fuel oil to 380-centistoke grade was unchanged after decreasing yesterday to $9.50. A narrowing viscosity spread means bunker, or marine fuel, has declined less than higher-quality fuel oil.
Light Distillates
Shell bought 50,000 barrels of 95-RON gasoline loading from Singapore at $124.90 a barrel from Vitol, the survey showed. Prices are lower than yesterday, when Shell bought a similar cargo at $126.30 a barrel.
Vitol bought four cargoes of 92-RON ranging in price from $120.30 to $120.40 a barrel. Morgan Stanley, Shell, Total SA and PetroChina Co. each sold 50,000 barrels to Vitol.
Naphtha for delivery to Japan in the first half of September traded at $926 to $927 a ton. Shell bought 25,000 tons from Mabanaft GmbH & Co. and another 25,000 tons from Itochu Corp. BP sold 25,000 tons to Cargill Inc.
Naphtha’s premium to London-traded Brent crude futures was at $80.21 a ton at 5:57 p.m. Singapore time from $79.42 at the end of Asian trading yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters on this story: Yee Kai Pin in Singapore at kyee13@bloomberg.net; Ann Koh in Singapore at akoh15@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alexander Kwiatkowski at akwiatkowsk2@bloomberg.net
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