SINGAPORE: Asia’s 10-ppm sulphur gasoil margins recovered after two days of declines on demand for competitively-priced cargoes in the open market.

Refining margins rose by around $2 a barrel to close the trading session at $31.81 a barrel.

Cash differentials closed lower at $1.64 a barrel as sellers were still readily available, with some participants bearish on supply.

Jet fuel refining margins went up to $30.90 a barrel, with the regrade widening to minus $0.91 a barrel.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

Taiwan’s Formosa sells 500-ppm sulphur gasoil at a discount of around $5 a barrel to Singapore quotes. US crude oil inventories rose last week along with gasoline stocks, while distillate stocks fell, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday. Crude stocks rose by about 3.3 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 30, they said. Gasoline inventories rose by about 1.2 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by about 2.4 million barrels, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Singapore middle distillates stocks climbed to over 3-month high to 8.336 million barrels as of Jan. 4, according to data released on Thursday by Enterprise Singapore.

Taiwan’s Formosa Petrochemical Corp is unlikely to offer 10-ppm sulphur gasoil for February loading in the spot market due to lower-than-expected inventories, spokesperson KY Lin said on Thursday.

Russia is sending more crude oil produced in the Arctic region to China and India, and at steeper discounts, after Europe slammed its doors shut on Russian supplies last month, according to trade sources and data.

Oil prices rebounded on Thursday amid dollar weakness and as investors emerged to buy dips after two sessions of steep losses, though economic concerns capped recovery.