SINGAPORE, April 5 (Reuters) - Asia's fuel oil margins improved on Friday,
with the front-month crack rising to its highest in two weeks, as demand emerged
from around the region.
The front-month May crack shrank 79 cents to a discount of $7.98 a barrel to
Dubai crude, the narrowest since March 11, according to Reuters calculations.
Pakistan State Oil issued a tender to buy a total of 700,000 tonnes
of fuel oil for delivery over April to July, a tender document showed.
The state-owned company is seeking eight cargoes of 65,000 tonnes each of
high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) and three 60,000-tonne cargoes of low sulphur fuel
oil (LSFO) for delivery into Fauji Oil Terminal and Keamari, respectively.
The volume, however, is about 15 percent lower than what PSO sought over
February to April, as there is sufficient inventory and less demand from the
power sector, a trading source said.
Vietnam's Petrolimex and South Korea's Western Power came forward earlier to
seek cargoes as well.
Fuel oil supply this month is expected to be steady amid the refinery
maintenance season, with around 4.7 million tonnes of Western barrels arriving
in East Asian shores.
By the Asian close, the balance April/May intermonth spread gained $1.50 to
a backwardation of $1.75 a tonne. The second-month May/June spread improved by
75 cents to parity a tonne, according to Reuters data.
* TENDERS:
- Pakistan State Oil is seeking 520,000 tonnes of high sulphur fuel
oil (HSFO) and 180,000 tonnes of low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), for delivery
between April and July, via tender which closes on April 18. Bids are to remain
valid until April 26.
* CASH DEALS: No trades reported
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC
Close
Cargo - 180cst 622.60 0.60 0.10 622.00
Diff - 180cst 2.75 0.45 19.57 2.30
Cargo - 380cst 618.30 0.05 0.01 618.25
Diff - 380cst 2.90 0.60 26.09 2.30
Bunker (Ex-wharf)- 620.00 0.00 0.00 620.00
380cst
Bunker (Ex-wharf) 1.70 -0.05 -2.86 1.75
Premium
SWAPS ($/T) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC
(0830 GMT) Close
Brent M1 106.42 -1.08 -1.00 107.50
180cst M1 620.50 0.75 0.12 619.75
180cst M1/M2 1.75 1.50 600.00 0.25
180cst M2 618.75 -0.75 -0.12 619.50
Visco M1 4.13 0.88 27.08 3.25
Visco M2 5.13 0.50 10.80 4.63
380cst M1 616.38 -0.12 -0.02 616.50
380cst M1/M2 2.75 1.12 68.71 1.63
380cst M2 613.63 -1.25 -0.20 614.88
Cracks 180-Dubai M1 -7.98 0.79 -9.01 -8.77
Cracks 180-Dubai M2 -7.53 0.65 -7.95 -8.18
East-West M1 28.75 1.00 3.60 27.75
East-West M2 29.25 1.25 4.46 28.00
Barges M1 591.75 -0.25 -0.04 592.00
Barges M1/M2 2.25 1.75 350.00 0.50
Barges M2 589.50 -2.00 -0.34 591.50
Crack Barges-Brent M1 -15.73 0.77 -4.67 -16.50
Crack Barges-Brent M2 -15.74 0.72 -4.37 -16.46
(Reporting by Lee Yen Nee; editing by James Jukwey)
