20000325

Asia Product Swaps-Gas oil up on crude, cash eyed

SINGAPORE: Singapore gas oil swaps rose sharply in late afternoon trading on Friday following hefty crude gains and the return of physical demand on Thursday.

"Gas oil is going up partly because of crude and also partly because Hin Leong came out to buy yesterday," a trader said.

April gas oil was last quoted at around $29.20/$29.40 per barrel, up over 80 cents from Thursday, brokers said.

Prices in the physical market fell sharply earlier this week after Hin Leong Trading pulled back its buying position after having attracted an assembly of some seven sellers in the Singapore cash market.

But on Thursday, Hin Leong returned to support the market with a purchase of one 150,000 barrel cargo at $30.30 per barrel, some $3.00 below its last purchase of four cargoes at $33.50 on Monday.

The cargo was sold by U.S. oil major Caltex.

On after-hours ACCESS on Friday, May U.S. light crude futures last traded 40 cents higher at $27.71 per barrel by 0837 GMT after ending down 15 cents at $27.31 in New York on Thursday.

Fuel oil swaps was firm on Friday, after surprisingly good support seen in the physical market on late Thursday.

Brokers said April fuel oil was last quoted at $145/$146 per tonne and $138/$140 per tonne, up around $1.50 from previous day.

The market had rebounded since late Thursday evening on expectations of renewed buying from China and tighter supplies.

In the physical fuel market on Thursday, two trades were done at $150 per tonne, up $2 from Wednesday.

Stock data from the Trade Development Board(TDB) also revealed that residue inventory in Singapore fell by a hefty 1.159 million barrels to 8.669 million for the week ended March 22.-Reuters