Oil Products Summary at European Close: Gasoline Cracks Retreat

Gasoline cracks are in retreat today despite demand ticking up last week according to GasBuddy data. The US front month gasoline crack had briefly rebounded on the day to its highest level since September, trading between $16.213/b and $17.242/b today.

• US ULSD crack down -0.3$/bbl at 38.31$/bbl
• Gasoil DEC 23 down -0.1% at 792.5$/mt
• US gasoline crack down -0.5$/bbl at 16.33$/bbl
• RBOB JAN 24 up 0.2% at 2.14$/gal
• US retail gasoline prices rose to $3.104/gal in the week to Dec. 1, according to the EIA. This is up 0.5% on the previous week. Meanwhile, diesel prices were down 1.3% to $4.092/gal.
• The next round of spring refinery maintenance will be larger than usual, FGE said in a note. Refiners will now try keep refineries running to make use of strength in middle distillates.
• Kazakhstan plans to extend restrictions on diesel, gasoline and specific petroleum products by another six months starting 14 February 2024, a draft document by the Energy Ministry showed.
• Exports of diesel/gasoil type fuels from South Korea in November increased to a record high going back to 2017 according to Kpler data.
• South Korean diesel/gasoline exports rose to a record pace in November according to Kpler at ~2.7mn tons, a 40% gain y/y.
• China will cut the retail and gasoline prices from Dec. 6, amid recent changes in global prices, according to Xinhua. Gasoline prices will decline by 55 y/t (around $7.7/mt) and diesel prices will fall by 50 y/t.