The Asian gasoil differentials firmed on Thursday as supply of the fuel was cut amid refinery maintenance in the region, traders said. Singapore middle distillates stocks, which comprise gasoil and jet fuel, fell 17 percent to a more than three-month low of 10.294 million barrels in the week to April 19, latest data from International Enterprise showed. Diesel shipments to Australia and Vietnam jumped from the previous week contributing to the drawdown in inventory, the data showed.
A backwardated structure is also making storing the oil product unattractive, traders said. Petron Corp is conducting partial maintenance at its 180,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Bataan refinery, industry sources said. Details of which units are shut remain unclear but the maintenance is expected to last until mid-May, sources added. Diesel imports into the Philippines has increased as a result, a trader said.
"They are importing about 6 to 7 (medium-range sized tankers) containing gasoil which is supportive of the market," he added Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is bringing forward a planned maintenance at one of its two condensate splitters to repair a unit, the company said. "As a precautionary measure, we have brought forward planned maintenance of one of the condensate splitters at our Ruwais east refinery following routine monitoring that revealed the need to repair an exchanger within the unit," a company spokesman said. This is a routine procedure which will take the equipment offline for 10 days and will not impact its customers, the spokesman said. China's March diesel output rose 5.5 percent year-on-year to 15.56 million tonnes, China's National Bureau of Statistics said.
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