Asia Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel Premiums Rising After Japan Quake
2011年3月15日 - 3:11PM
Dow Jones News
Asia's ultra-low-sulfur diesel premiums are rising and could
easily top $4 a barrel to benchmark Singapore quotes due to tighter
regional supplies following the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and the
tsunami in Japan.
"Everybody offering 10-parts-per-million cargoes is waiting to
see how far the premiums will go," a western trader said Tuesday.
ULSD is also known as 10-parts-per-million-sulfur gasoil.
Almost 1.4 million barrels a day, comprising more than a quarter
of Japan's refining capacity, has been shut due to physical damage,
loss of power or as a safety precaution.
The refinery outages have prompted both Japan's Cosmo Oil Co.
(5007.TO) and Idemitsu Kosan Co. (5019.TO) to seek ULSD in the
Asian spot market to cover the lost production and meet domestic
demand, a Singapore-based trader said.
JX Holdings Inc. (5020.TO), which shut three refineries in
northeast Japan, also is considering importing oil products such as
ULSD from South Korea, a company official. JX is likely to cancel
some diesel cargoes it planned to export in March, the Singapore
trader said.
Japan's rising need for imports and reduced exports won't be the
only cause for tighter regional supplies. Other traders--most
notably European oil major BP PLC (BP.LN)--will also be forced to
seek cargoes elsewhere to meet demand from Australia and Chile,
which import as much as a combined six million barrels from Asia
each month for transportation use.
BP is a major term buyer of ULSD from Japanese refineries and
ships a large portion to Australia, traders said. BP last offered
bids of $3.70 a barrel to benchmark quotes in Singapore's spot
market, up from $2 a barrel just before the earthquake.
"It seems like they are desperate in the market and looking to
supply their shorts," the western trader said.
"We were looking to buy barrels from Asia or the Middle East,
but since premiums are rising, we have decided to postpone our
purchases," he said.
-By Wayne Ma, Dow Jones Newswires; +65 6415 4065;
wayne.ma@dowjones.com
ENEOS (PK) (USOTC:JXHLY)
過去 株価チャート
から 6 2024 まで 7 2024
ENEOS (PK) (USOTC:JXHLY)
過去 株価チャート
から 7 2023 まで 7 2024