SINGAPORE: Asia’s cash premiums for jet fuel climbed on Tuesday buoyed by expectations for firmer demand in the coming months, while the front-month spread for the aviation fuel in Singapore remained in backwardation.
Cash differentials for jet fuel rose to a premium of $2.28 a barrel to Singapore quotes, compared with a $2 premium a day earlier.
Air passenger traffic in Singapore reached 400,000, or 31% of pre-COVID levels, in the week to April 17, 18% higher compared with a month ago, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Monday.
“Traffic volume increased for all major markets, with particularly strong growth for traffic to and from Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand,” the CAAS said in a statement.
Singapore Airlines said it expects passenger capacity to reach around 61% of pre-pandemic levels by May.
The May/June time spread for jet fuel traded at $5.80 per barrel, as against $6.30 a barrel on Monday, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Refining margins, or cracks, for jet fuel were at $31.17 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, compared with $33.70 a barrel on Monday.
Singapore’s Sunseap Group said on Tuesday it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the provincial government of Indonesia’s Riau Islands to develop large-scale solar energy and storage plants to supply power to the islands and Singapore.
Sunseap said it has it has looked into the feasibility of a 1,380 megawatt peak (MWp) solar power plant and a 3,000 megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage systems (ESS) on Combol island, and a 1,682 MWp solar plant and 3,500 MWh ESS on Citlim island. No gasoil deals, no jet fuel trades.
Oil prices slipped in volatile trading on Tuesday as investors weighed demand concerns against tight global supplies after Libya halted some exports and as factories in Shanghai prepared to reopen following a COVID-19 shutdown.
Libya’s National Oil Corp warned of a “painful wave of closures” and declared force majeure on some output and exports as forces in the east expanded their blockade of the sector over a political standoff.