Asia oil/products: Dubai crude pushes higher, cracks fall back
London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) – Middle East crude prices moved higher Tuesday as the immediate threat of a quick return of Iranian barrels into the market was removed, with Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog extending a recently expired monitoring agreement by a month.
Dubai cash for July delivery was assessed at $67.33/b on May 25 (1230 Singapore time), up $1.10/b from Monday's Singapore close of $66.23/b, while DME Oman futures for July settled $66.54/b at the Singapore 1630 close, up $0.11/b.
The early Singapore holiday meant cash prices were assessed at 1230 local time, but Middle East crude futures were timestamped at the usual 1630 Singapore.
Cash Brent (BFOE) for July was assessed at $68.84/b, up $1.21/b from the Monday's Asian close, as the Brent/Dubai cash widened slightly to $1.51/b.
The cargo market for July has largely been completed, but activity on the Dubai and Oman partials window remains very lively, said sources.
China's Unipec has been the main seller against French trader Totsa on the buy side, with five cargoes of Oman crude transacted Tuesday via the partials market.
Singapore markets are closed Wednesday.
Products
Spot naphtha cracks pushed through $100/mt with cash differentials unchanged and the swaps market moving higher. The flat price was assessed at $606/mt - the only product to move higher than the rise in crude.
Gasoline cracks fell back. One 92 RON deal was heard at $75.20/b and the swaps curve lagged crude higher. Cracks are now at a four-day low, with June and July pegged flat at $6.03/b compared to a backwardated market just a week earlier.
Tuesday was a similar picture for jet kero, with the one cash differential spot trade heard at -$0.50/b under June swaps - a two month low and equivalent to $72.10/b. The US government warned citizens not to travel to Japan and the contango in the jet market widened to -$0.25/b for June/July from -$0.10/b a week earlier, indicating nearby weakness.
Diesel cracks also fell back with the June 10ppm crack marked at an eight-session low of $6.23/b. No deals were heard and the spot was marked at $75.20/b.
Fuel oil cracks also started to fall back, with the 380cst high sulfur June crack hitting a six-session low of -$10.85/b and dragging the marine fuel 0.5% crack to a low of $1.46/b using a 6.9 density factor - also a six-day low.