Asia Distillates-High sulphur cash premiums at 5-mt low

SINGAPORE, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Cash premiums for high
sulphur gasoil fell to its lowest in five months as demand for
the product remains low with escalating crude prices.	
    The premiums for the 0.5 percent and 0.25 percent sulphur
gasoil grades continued to fall for a second straight session to
premiums of four cents and 90 cents a barrel, respectively, to
Singapore quotes.	
    Singapore's onshore gasoil and jet fuel stocks continued to
climb for a fourth straight session, increasing by 6.31 percent
to 11.473 million barrels for the week ended Feb. 22., data from
the International Enterprise showed. 	
    With demand from Europe continuing to be weak, diesel and
jet fuel from Asia are stuck in the region on unworkable
arbitrage economics. 	
    Gasoil flipping to a contango for the first time in five
months this week, has also added an incentive for traders to
keep the product in tanks in the absence of spot demand.	
    In Taiwan, CPC has sold up to 12,000 tonnes of two percent
sulphur gasoil for loading in March to Winson Oil at a discount
of $2 a barrel to Singapore quotes, traders said. 	
    In Yemen, Aden refinery has bought two cargoes of 90,000
tonnes each of 0.5 percent sulphur gasoil from Kuwait's
Independent Petroleum Group and one cargo from
France's Total, through a spot tender. 	
   It paid premiums of between $4 and $5 a barrel to Middle East
quotes on a delivered basis for cargoes to be delivered over the
first three weeks of March, the sources said.  	
    The refiner did not award a tender seeking 30,000 tonnes of
jet fuel for delivery in late February, and might re-issue the
tender later, one of the sources said.
	
    Meanwhile, 10 ppm sulphur diesel premiums gained some
strength, climbing by 25 cents to $2.40 a barrel to Singapore
quotes, ahead of refinery maintenances scheduled in Australia in
the coming months.  	
    A widening east-west spread also indicates the possibility
of the arbitrage window to be re-opened soon. 	
           	
    For exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) curve, click
           	
    	
    * TENDERS: Bahrain Petroleum Corp has offered 30,000 tonnes
of 500 ppm sulphur gasoil for loading in March. The tender
closed on Thursday.	
            	
    * SWAPS OUTRIGHTS: Gasoil's March and April swaps increased
by 71 and 90 cents to $135.40 and $135.61 a barrel,
respectively.
   	
    - Jet fuel swaps for March were up $1.15 to $136.28, while
March regrade, or the difference between jet and diesel prices,
gained 44 cents to a premium of 88 cents a barrel.   	
              	
    * CRACKS: Gasoil's crack for March gained 15 cents to $16.15
a barrel over Dubai crude, while jet fuel's crack increased by
59 cents to $17.03 a barrel.   	
    	
    * EAST-WEST SPREADS: The Exchange of Futures for
Swaps (EFS) for February fell $3.21 to minus $17.27 a tonne.

     	
                 	
    * CASH DIFFERENTIALS: Cash premiums for the 0.5 percent and
0.25 percent sulphur gasoil grades continued to fall for a
second straight session to premiums of four cents and 90 cents a
barrel respectively while jet fuel differential remained
unchanged at a premium of five cents a barrel to Singapore
quotes. 	
                                              	
    * PHYSICAL OUTRIGHTS: Benchmark diesel with a maximum
sulphur content of 0.5 percent gained 62 cents to $135.45 a
barrel, while jet fuel climbed $1.15 to $136.33 a barrel.
   	
              	
    * CASH DEALS: No jet deal, six gasoil deals.	
    - Brightoil sold 150,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulphur
gasoil for loading over Mar. 20-24 to Glencore at a premium of
10 cents a barrel over Singapore quotes.	
    - Hin Leong bought 150,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulphur
gasoil for loading over Mar. 11-15 from Shell at parity to
Singapore quotes.	
    - Shell bought 150,000 barrels of 10 ppm sulphur diesel for
loading over Mar. 9-13 from PetroChina at a premium of $2.40 a
barrel over Singapore quotes.	
    - Hin Leong bought 250,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulphur
gasoil for loading over Mar. 10-14 from BP at a premium of 10
cents a barrel over the average of Mar. 8-14 quotes.	
    - BP bought 150,000 barrels of 10 ppm sulphur diesel for
loading over Mar. 9-13 from PetroChina at a premium of $2.40 a
barrel to Singapore quotes.	
    - Hin Leong bought 150,000 barrels of 0.5 percent sulphur
gasoil for loading over Mar. 9-13 from PetroChina at a premium
of 20 cents a barrel over Singapore quotes.	
      	
 PRODUCT               RIC             BID     ASK     MEAN     PREV    CHANGE  % CHANGE
 Spot Jet/Kero         JET-SIN         136.13  136.53   136.33  135.18    1.15      0.85
 Spot Gas Oil 0.5%     GO-SIN          135.25  135.65   135.45  134.83    0.62      0.46
 Spot Gas Oil 0.25%    GO25-SIN        136.11  136.51   136.31  135.69    0.62      0.46
 Spot Gas Oil 0.05%    GO005-SIN       136.71  137.11   136.91  136.19    0.72      0.53
 Spot Gas Oil 0.001%   GO10-SIN        137.61  138.01   137.81  137.33    0.49      0.35
 Jet/Kero Diff         JET-SIN-DIF      -0.05    0.15     0.05    0.05    0.00      0.00
 GO 0.05 Diff          GO005-SIN-DIF     1.40    1.60     1.50    1.50    0.00      0.00
 GO 0.25 Diff          GO25-SIN-DIF      0.80    1.00     0.90    1.00   -0.10    -10.00
 GO 0.5 Diff           GO-SIN-DIF       -0.06    0.14     0.04    0.14   -0.10    -71.43
 GO 0.001 Diff         GO10-SIN-DIF       2.3     2.5     2.40    2.15    0.25     11.63
 GO Swap Month 1       GOSGSWMc1                        135.40  134.69    0.71      0.53
 GO Swap Month 2       GOSGSWMc2                        135.61  134.71    0.90      0.67
   	
	
 (Reporting by Jessica Jaganathan)