SINGAPORE- Asia's front-month gasoil and jet fuel cracks slipped on Thursday despite a drop in Singapore middle distillate inventories to a 1-1/2-year low, reflecting concerns over the pace at which demand may recover over the near term.
Front-month refining margins for jet fuel fell 15 cents to $5.48 per barrel over Dubai crude during Asian trading hours, while the 10 ppm gasoil crack fell 13 cents to $7.72 a barrel.
The weaker crack values also came amid firming crude oil prices.
Global benchmark Brent oil prices rose above $75 a barrel on Thursday as crude inventories in the world's top oil consumer, the United States, fell to their lowest since January 2020.
INVENTORIES
Singapore's middle distillate inventories dropped 4% in the week to July 28 to a 1-1/2-year low of 10.8 million barrels, according to Enterprise Singapore data, marking four consecutive weeks of stock declines.
According to the data, net exports of automotive gasoil were at 126,000 tonnes in the week to Wednesday, while net exports of aviation fuel were at 139,000 tonnes.
Weekly Singapore middle distillate inventories have averaged 13.39 million barrels this year, compared with an average of 13.9 million barrels in 2020, Reuters calculations showed. This week's stocks were 21% lower than a year earlier.
Elsewhere, middle distillate inventories in the Fujairah oil hub dropped 21% to 2.7 million barrels in the week ended July 26, while U.S. distillate fuel inventories dropped by 3.1 million barrels versus expectations for a 435,000-barrel drop.
(Reporting by Roslan Khasawneh; Editing by Aditya Soni) ((roslan.khasawneh@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: roslan.khasawneh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
