Brisk window activity continues; April refiner sales at discount

Asia's middle distillates markets rounded off the week with upbeat trading activity on the window, while April spot sale levels by refiners edged down, with sentiment turning slightly cautious. Discussions for the week mostly circled around April spot cargoes from key northeast Asian refiners, although deal levels were slightly lower from a week earlier as traders cited a slight change in market sentiment. There were some bearish undertones in Asian markets this week as the east-west price spreads narrowed for a second straight week, which means swing supplies may start pivoting east instead of west. The front-month east-west spread hovered at nearly two-month lows of around $22-23 per metric ton in these two trading sessions. (LGOAEFSMc1)So far, only some India-origin barrels are likely to head over to southeast or northeast Asia by end-March. Refining margins (GO10SGCKMc1) were at the lowest for the trading week at around $13.70 a barrel, still hovering near three-month lows. Cash differentials (GO10-SIN-DIF) slipped further to 18 cents per barrel, reflecting the weakness in physical markets and also a narrower time spread between March and April paper levels. Jet fuel activity was scant on the window throughout as a buy-sell gap hindered further discussions from happening. Regrade (JETREG10SGMc1) was at around $1 a barrel on Friday. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS - Two gasoil deals, no jet fuel deals INVENTORIES- Gasoil inventories fell by 4% on the week to 2.27 million tons. REFINERY NEWS - A Ukrainian attack set ablaze a gasoline tank at Russia's Tuapse oil complex on the shores of the Black Sea, Veniamin Kondratiev, the governor of the Krasnodar region, said on Friday, while no one was hurt.- Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery will shut its 204,000 barrels per day gasoline-making unit for 30-day maintenance tentatively expected to start on June 1, according to industry monitor IIR.NEWS- Oil prices rebounded on Friday to recover some of their losses of more than 1% in the previous session, partly due to the diminishing prospects of a quick end to the Ukraine war that could bring back more Russian energy supplies. - Chinese state oil companies are shying away from Russian oil this month, with two importers halting purchases while two others scaled back volumes as they assess compliance following recent U.S. sanctions on Moscow, multiple trade sources said.- The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said.- Russia is using cryptocurrencies in its oil trade with China and India to skirt Western sanctions, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the matter.PRICESMIDDLE DISTILLATESCASH ($/BBL)ASIA CLOSEChangePrev CloseRICSpot Gas Oil 0.5% 79.36-0.8780.24(GO-SIN)GO 0.5 Diff-5.36-0.03-5.33(GO-SIN-DIF)Spot Gas Oil 0.25% 83.92-0.8784.80(GO25-SIN)GO 0.25 Diff-0.80-0.03-0.77(GO25-SIN-DIF)Spot Gas Oil 0.05%83.69-0.8784.57(GO005-SIN)GO 0.05 Diff-1.03-0.03-1.00(GO005-SIN-DIF)Spot Gas Oil 0.001%84.91-0.9485.85(GO10-SIN)GO 0.001 Diff0.18-0.100.28(GO10-SIN-DIF)Spot Jet/Kero83.87-0.8484.70(JET-SIN)Jet/Kero Diff0.130.000.13(JET-SIN-DIF)For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below.Brent M1(BRENTSGMc1)Gasoil M1(GOSGSWMc1)Gasoil M1/M2(GOSGSPDMc1)Gasoil M2(GOSGSWMc2)Regrade M1(JETREGSGMc1)Regrade M2(JETREGSGMc2)Jet M1(JETSGSWMc1)Jet M1/M2(JETSGSPDMc1)Jet M2(JETSGSWMc2)Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M1(GOSGCKMc1)Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M2(GOSGCKMc2)Jet Cracks M1(JETSGCKMc1)Jet Cracks M2(JETSGCKMc2)East-West M1(LGOAEFSMc1)East-West M2(LGOAEFSMc2)LGO M1(LGOAMc1)LGO M1/M2(LGOASPDMc1)LGO M2(LGOAMc2)Crack LGO-Brent M1(LGOACKMc1)Crack LGO-Brent M2(LGOACKMc2)