Asia’s diesel market backwardation eased on Monday, with cash differentials dipping in tandem amid a lack of window activity, though regrade discounts hit its narrowest in nearly 11 months.

Traders were eyeing sale tenders to surface this week for November shipments, especially from northeast Asian refiners.

Meanwhile, some of India’s refiners were still offering prompt October loading diesel and jet fuel cargoes.

Indonesia’s Pertamina bought around six cargoes of October delivery gasoil, some traders say, though further details on pricing could not be confirmed.

Refining margins slip to a near two-week low of $20.1 a barrel, with crude prices gaining at a faster pace in comparison with Singapore paper prices.

Cash differentials slipped to $1.50 a barrel as a buy-sell gap hampered spot deals and discussions.

The arbitrage for Asian jet fuel exports to the U.S. west coast region opened, though mostly for prompt October markets, as traders assessed the El Segundo refinery shutdown impact.

November regrade narrowed to its smallest discount since end-2024 of 45 cents a barrel, reflecting the strength in forward jet fuel markets ahead of winter heating demand expectations in December-January.

SINGAPORE CASH DEALS

– No deals for both fuels

REFINERY NEWS

– Chevron’s 285,000-barrel-per-day El Segundo refinery in southern California had taken multiple units offline on Friday after a large fire erupted in a jet fuel production unit, disrupting supply in the Golden State’s isolated energy market.

NEWS

– The Rosneft-controlled Tuapse oil refinery in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region was targeted by Ukrainian drones overnight, causing a fire at a building for security staff, which was quickly put out, regional authorities said on Monday.

– Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday after OPEC+’s planned production increase for November was more modest than expected, tempering some concerns about supply additions, though a soft outlook for demand is likely to cap near-term gains.

– Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, kept the official selling price for the Arab Light crude it sells to Asia unchanged, a day after OPEC+ agreed a modest output hike.
Source: Reuters