Traders and refiners have booked a total of five medium-ranged oil product tankers from Asia to the US West Coast as gasoline and jet fuel arbitrages open, shipbrokers and traders said on Thursday.
The 30,000-tonne MR tankers were booked at around $1.6 million flat rate, about 19 percent higher than levels seen for much of July, shipbrokers said.
Although it was not immediately clear which products they were carrying, the US West Coast more often imports jet fuel than gasoline from Asia due to differing specifications.
"This is a peak refined oil product demand season for the United States, so you are going to see refiners and traders working spot cargoes or system barrels into the US West Coast from Asia," said a Singapore-based shipbroker.
Some Asian gasoline traders have been eyeing arbitrage chances to sell gasoline to the US West Coast, where refiners were building inventories ahead of potential hurricanes. But tightening supplies in Asia have hindered the effort.
"Arbitrage chances to US West Coast have opened wider now but few barrels are available to send due to the shortage here," a Singapore-based trader said. Export curbs due to Taiwanese refinery maintenance and a one-third cut in Chinese exports have coincided with the peak August driving season in Japan, where demand appears to be on the rebounded after an extended rainy season.
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