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Diesel market backwardation steepens; regrade discounts widen
Diesel market backwardation steepens; regrade discounts widen
About this update from S-oil Corporation
Asia's diesel market structures firmed on Monday, with support coming from the futures market and the West, while regrade spreads weakening to further discounts. ICE gasoil jumped 1.7% in late Asian trade, with east-west price spreads widening to more than discounts of $45 per metric ton. Some expectations of cold weather demand propping up market fundamentals in the near-term remained supportive, in addition to worries on the Middle East situation, several regional trade sources said. Extending gains, refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) closed the trading session at around $21.7 a barrel. Cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) rose to nearly premiums of 30 cents per barrel, though spot activity stayed curtailed on the trading window. More jet fuel February cargoes were under negotiations, with one northeast Asian refiner selling cargoes via a sales tender that closes today. Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) discounts widened further to minus nearly 70 cents per barrel. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS - No gasoil deal, one jet fuel deal REFINERY NEWS - Exxon Mobil Corp NYSE:XOM said on Saturday it was idling units at its Baytown, Texas crude oil refining and petrochemical complex due to freezing weather expected over the next three days, according to a community warning notice posted online.- Vitol plans to partially shut down its 300,000 barrel-per-day Saras oil refinery in Italy for about two months from early March, according to an alert from industry monitor IIR seen by Reuters.NEWS- Few refineries on Sunday reported problems on the first day severe cold descended across the U.S. Gulf Coast, home to about half of the country's crude oil refining capacity.- South Korea's S-Oil said on Monday it had logged a 91% surge in fourth-quarter operating profit and expects first-quarter refining margins to remain robust due to steady demand, supply disruptions and the planned closure of a U.S. refinery.- Tengizchevroil, which operates Kazakhstan's giant Tengiz oilfield, has begun a gradual resumption of production after an extended outage, it said on Monday.- Oil prices edged higher on Monday after climbing more than 2% in the previous session, as output disruptions in major U.S. crude-producing regions and tensions between the U.S. and Iran boosted prices. PRICESMIDDLE DISTILLATESCASH ($/BBL)ASIA CLOSEChangePrev CloseRICSpot Gas Oil 0.25% 85.551.6183.94(GO25-SIN)GO 0.25 Diff0.030.08-0.05(GO2...