September refiner sales in full swing; mixed trading sentiment

Asia's middle distillates markets saw upbeat spot trading liquidity on Thursday, despite continuously softer paper market structures and overall cautious near-term market outlooks.

Trading sentiment stayed mixed, with a portion of the market remaining cautious given ample spot supplies going into September.

Sales for September spot cargoes from a handful of northeast Asian refiners were in full swing, though overall price levels remained little changed from a month earlier.

Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) declined further to around $17.2 a barrel, with paper market liquidity on the trading window upbeat.

Cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) softened to $1.13 a barrel, reflecting a weakening market structure entering mid-month.

September jet fuel sales activity from several northeast Asian oil majors were in progress，mostly in the discounted territory and similar to August cargo price levels.

Shaky arbitrage spreads between Asia and the U.S. west coast markets has been a recent market downer, one regional importer said.

Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) held firm at discounts of around $1.3 a barrel.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

- No deals for both fuels

INVENTORIES

- U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly rose as imports increased, while gasoline stockpiles fell last week, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.

REFINERY NEWS

- Japan's biggest refiner, Eneos Corp, has shut the 77,000 barrel-per-day No. 3 crude distillation unit at its Kawasaki refinery, near Tokyo, on August 9 for scheduled maintenance, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

- Shell SHEL.L shut the gasoline-producing resid catalytic cracking unit (RCCU) at its 231,827 barrel-per-day (bpd) Norco, Louisiana, refinery to begin a planned overhaul a month earlier than scheduled, people familiar with plant operations said on Wednesday.

- Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan 5019.T restarted the 155,000 barrels-per-day No.3 crude distillation unit at its Yokkaichi refinery in central Japan on August 11, following scheduled maintenance, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

NEWS

- China's refining and petrochemical sector is facing "involution," a reference to brutal competition and falling profits, the vice chairman of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation said on Thursday.

- Dozens of tankers have joined the shadow fleet this year compared with hundreds in previous years as the harshest Western sanctions yet target Russia's oil exports and add to the difficulty of finding suitable vessels, shipping sources said.

- Premiums for prompt benchmark oil prices globally are falling compared with those in future months on rising output from the Middle East, Latin America and Europe, just as peak summer demand ends, traders and analysts said on Thursday.

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