Asia Distillates-Gasoil margins near one-year low as weak sentiment persists

SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Asia's 10 ppm sulphur gasoil margins hovered near one-year lows on Tuesday, as trading sentiment stayed weak amid unchanged fundamentals despite continuous talks of limited exports from China starting March. Estimates from a handful of trading sources came in at 1 million tonnes for March loading, given the expectations of better demand in the local market after the seasonal winter lull. Furthermore, export margins have narrowed for diesel and better domestic selling netbacks could push refiners to focus more on the local market, one China-based trading source said. Domestic list prices in China for gasoil were still firm despite weakness in the US-denominated markets, a second source added. Demand across the board in Asia remained lacklustre, as evidenced from the limited buying interest both via open tenders and private negotiations. Refining margins for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil ended the trading session at $21.18 a barrel, while cash differentials for 10 ppm sulphur gasoil settled at $1.10 a barrel. Some buying emerged for end-March cargoes, allowing for a rebound in cash premiums, but ready availability limited the upside. Jet fuel refining margins fell to around $19 a barrel, at a quicker pace than 10 ppm sulphur gasoil. Regrade continued its losing streak to a discount of $2.15 a barrel on the back of sufficient supply. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS - No gasoil or jet fuel deal. TENDERS - Qatar's QE offers March jet fuel, gasoil, gas-to-liquid diesel

- Sri Lanka's Lanka IOC seeks March gasoil

NEWS - Brent oil prices fell on Tuesday as fears that a global economic slowdown would reduce fuel demand prompted investors to take profits on the previous day's gains. - The Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) has completed trials on two supply chains of biofuel blends for vessel bunkering, the centre said on Tuesday. - A 500,000 barrel-per-day cut to Russian oil production announced this month will apply only to March output for now, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Tuesday, according to news agency reports. - India's state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp is facing difficulties in paying for Russian oil imports following the Dec. 5 price cap imposed by Western nations, a company official said on Tuesday. REFINERY MAINTENANCE - South Korean refiner GS Caltex plans to shut one of its four crude distillation units (CDUs) for maintenance in March, several sources close to the matter said on Tuesday. PRICES MID-DISTILLATES
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC Close
Spot Gas Oil 0.5% 96.05 -0.89 -0.92 96.94 GO 0.5 Diff -6.53 0.02 -0.31 -6.55 Spot Gas Oil 0.25% 96.59 -0.89 -0.91 97.48 GO 0.25 Diff -5.99 0.02 -0.33 -6.01 <GO25-SIN-DIF > Spot Gas Oil 0.05% 98.89 -0.89 -0.89 99.78 GO 0.05 Diff -3.69 0.02 -0.54 -3.71 <GO005-SIN-DI F> Spot Gas Oil 0.001% 103.68 -0.89 -0.85 104.57 GO 0.001 Diff 1.1 0.02 1.85 1.08 <GO10-SIN-DIF > Spot Jet/Kero 102.76 0.17 0.17 102.59 Jet/Kero Diff 1.17 0.1 9.35 1.07 For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please
double click the RICs below.
Brent M1 Gasoil M1 Gasoil M1/M2 Gasoil M2 Regrade M1 Regrade M2 Jet M1 Jet M1/M2 Jet M2 Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M1
Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M2
Jet Cracks M1 Jet Cracks M2 East-West M1 East-West M2 LGO M1 LGO M1/M2 LGO M2 Crack LGO-Brent M1 Crack LGO-Brent M2 (Reporting by Trixie Yap; Editing by Varun H K)