Asian spot prices mostly slide but naphtha finds some support.

摘要

Spot product prices largely continued to fall in the week to Jan. 16, but the declines were not as steep as seen in recent weeks. Also, naphtha prices inched up, with help from supply-side disruptions. Gasoil prices continued to decline, encouraging some buyers to step into the market to take advantage of low costs, especially after prices fell below the $60/bbl threshold on Tuesday for the first time in nearly six years. Demand emerged from Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, and elsewhere. "Many of the buyers from these countries have not secured term contracts due to falling oil prices, so they are coming out to buy in the spot market, and that's supportive of premiums," a trader said. On the supply side, middle distillate stocks held in Singapore slid to a three-week low, which injected some bullish sentiment; however, with the recent and upcoming startups of export-oriented refineries in the Middle East, market players are expecting ample stocks going forward. The new, 400K-b/d Yasref refinery, operated by Saudi Aramco and Chinese Sinopec, located in Saudi Arabia has commenced exporting, shipping 300K bbl of diesel, according to reports on Thursday. Jet fuel prices were pressured down by additional prompt supplies coming from Indian Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and Yemeni Aden Refinery, traders noted. Industry sources remarked that traders might soon look into storage options for middle distillates as the contango continues to widen. "If you look at the whole strip until Dec. 2015, the second half of 2015's contango is steeper at approximately 60-75￠[/bbl], which is very decent," an industry source said. Storage plays for gasoil and jet fuel generally are economical when the contango hits 80-90￠/bbl, traders noted.