Singapore -- Asia's cash differentials for
jet fuel inched higher on Thursday while
refining margins for the aviation fuel
climbed for a second consecutive session,
buoyed by a steady increase in the number of
scheduled flights in the region.
Cash discounts for jet fuel JET-SIN-DIF
narrowed by 2 cents to 11 cents per barrel to
Singapore quotes, the smallest discounts since Dec. 8.
Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel rose 17 cents to $4.71 per barrel
over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours on Thursday. The cracks have
gained 48% in the last month.
The jet fuel market has been gradually improving in recent weeks after the
COVID-19 pandemic brought air travel to a virtual halt this year, and market
watchers believe passenger traffic would be steadily on the rise as
vaccine roll-outs spur more international flights in 2021.
The Jan/Feb time spread for the aviation fuel in Singapore slimmed its
contango structure by 2 cents on Thursday to trade at a discount of 22 cents
per barrel, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
INVENTORIES
- Singapore's middle distillate inventories slipped 2.5% to 15.1 million
barrels in the week to Dec. 23, according to Enterprise Singapore data.
- Weekly Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged about 13.8
million barrels in 2020, Reuters calculations showed. This week's stocks
were 43.9% higher from a year ago.
- U.S. distillate stockpiles fell by 2.3 million barrels in the week to Dec. 18, versus
expectations for a 904,000-barrel drop, the U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed
on Wednesday.
CHINA NOVEMBER FUEL EXPORTS
- China's diesel exports in November fell 13.2% year-on-year to 1.92 million
tonnes, which was also down from 2.17 million tonnes in October, data from General Administration of Customs
showed.
- The country's jet fuel exports edged higher month-on-month to 460,000
tonnes, thanks to a slight recovery in international flights and steady
demand for domestic travel, though the volume was still 71.5% lower than a
year earlier, customs data showed.
