Rising Brent crude price shuts window on European oil exports to Asia

European crude oil loadings bound for Asia have dropped to their lowest in four years at the start of 2018 as rising Brent prices shut the arbitrage window, causing the premiums of similar Middle Eastern and Russian grades to rise as refiners make up the shortfall.

That refiners are willing to pay up for these grades underscores the demand in Asia for light crudes, which typically yield a high volume of diesel fuel when refined, in order to cash in on high profit margins for diesel and jet fuel.

The volume of crude loading in the North Sea and the Mediterranean for Asia slumped in January to 7.6 million barrels, less than half of the 17 million barrels in January 2017, Thomson Reuters trade flow data showed.

The drop reflects the widening of the premium of European benchmark Brent to Middle East benchmark Dubai, a proxy measure of the economic viability of shipping arbitrage cargoes from Europe to Asia.
more at:  https://www.reuters.com/article/asia-oil/graphic-rising-brent-crude-price-shuts-window-on-european-oil-exports-to-asia-idUSL3N1PD416?feedType=RSS&virtualBrandChannel=11563

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