Oil Products Summary at European Close: Gasoline Cracks Climb

Gasoline cracks have surged to their highest level since mid-September, with support coming from EIA data showing stocks drew in the week to Feb. 2, driven by higher demand.

• US gasoline crack up 1.6$/bbl at 21.26$/bbl
• US ULSD crack up 0.7$/bbl at 43$/bbl
• EIA Weekly US Petroleum Summary - w/w change week ending Feb 02: Gasoline stocks -3,146 vs Exp +836, Implied mogas demand +663, Distillate stocks -3,221 vs Exp -2,147, Implied dist demand +60
• Planned maintenance at Chinese state refiners is set to be 18% higher this year at a total of 157m tons/yr, according to OilChem. The work will mostly take place in 2Q and 4Q.
• Shandong teapot refiners have opted to pull feedstock from commercial storages near their facilities rather than target seaborne volumes – a trend growing since mid-December.
• Distillate margins and refined product volatility are too low due to structural tightness in the refining market and refined products exposure to potential Red Sea disruptions according to Goldman Sachs.
• Maintenance works at INA’s 90.4kbpd Rijeka refinery will end mid-March and the refinery is returning at full capacity in April, INA management board president Zsuzsanna Ortutay said.