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Asia refining margins at lowest seasonal levels since 2020 as products grow

Asian refiners' margins plunged to their least expensive seasonal levels given that 2020 this week as materials of diesel and gas rose after peak summer season travel demand ended, market officials and experts said on Friday.

Consistent weak margins might prompt refiners to trim their output, curbing crude demand in Asia, the region that contributes most to international oil need development.

Asia has actually been cutting runs considering that May, 400,000-500,000. barrels per day, including China, stated Amrita Sen, founder and. director of Research study at consultancy Energy Aspects.

We've already consisted of 300,000 bpd of run cuts for Q4. possibly another 100,000 based upon where the margins are. today.

Complex refining margins in Singapore, the local. bellwether, dropped to $1.62 a barrel today, LSEG information. revealed, with the average in the very first week of September down 68%. from the exact same period last month. << DUB-SIN-REF >

Margins are at the lowest seasonal level because 2020,. slipping into a trough earlier than normal, as U.S. summer. gas usage dissatisfied while China's financial. slowdown moistened demand.

Asia's diesel margins are hovering near 18-month lows while. the money discount rates for 10ppm sulphur gasoil have actually hit a near. four-year low amidst a widening in contango in its market. structure.

Trigger prices are lower than those in future months in a. contango market, signaling ample supply.

Diesel need in Europe is quite bad in the meantime, Formosa. Petrochemical's representative KY Lin told Reuters.

Northeast Asian refineries are pressured by high stocks. as their oil has nowhere else to go, except regional. destinations such as Singapore and Australia, he added.

Since June, traders have been moving record volume of diesel. on very-large unrefined carriers from Asia to the west, contributing to. increasing stocks in Europe.

In China, obvious diesel demand is down 3% in the very first. seven months this year, said Victor Yang, senior analyst at. Chinese consultancy JLC. This comes after top refiners Sinopec. and PetroChina reported a 6.8% and a 3.2% year-on-year drop in. first-half sales, he added.

Sales in September and October, which are typically peak. diesel consumption months in China, may also dissatisfy, he. stated.

For gas, costs in Asia slipped to their least expensive in. three years this week with fractures hovering at their least expensive since. October, LSEG information showed.

Fuel prices came under pressure from a switch to winter season. grade in the United States, and as Nigeria's new Dangote. refinery has begun producing the motor fuel, Lin said.

An improvement in naphtha margins and robust need for Extremely. Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) are offering some support for. refiners' margins, he included.

Formosa is gradually lowering operating rates at its. refinery ahead of an arranged upkeep in mid-September, Lin. said. Its refinery is processing 420,000-430,000 barrels per day. of crude this week, compared to 440,000-450,000 bpd in August,. he included.

An authorities at a South Korean refiner it is putting in place. a flexible production strategy with the goal of offering steady. supply to meet increased heating oil and jet fuel demand in. 4th quarter.

(source: Reuters)