Singapore Window – 16/02/24
The Apr Brent futures contract eased off from yesterday’s strength and stood at $82.00/bbl as of 10:30 GMT, time of writing. WTI futures for the same tenor also weakened this morning and are currently at $76.80/bbl. The US House of Representatives has passed a bill to strip the power of President Biden’s administration to hold approvals of LNG exports. However, the legislation is still pending approval from the US Senate. Italian energy group Eni reported a net profit of 1.64 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in Q4 2023. France’s state-owned EDF Energy reported that the group returned to profit and cut its debt by nearly $10.76 billion in 2023. In macroeconomic news, production at US factories fell in January, dropping by 0.5% after clocking a 0.1% gain in December, perhaps pulled down due to harsh weather conditions. The UK’s economy contracted 0.3% in Q4 2023, highlighting a recession in the second half of 2023 – enabling the UK to join Japan among G7 economies currently in a recession. Canada is yet to report GDP data for Q4 2023. Finally, the front-month and six-month Brent spreads are currently at $0.65/bbl and $3.20/bbl, respectively.
Asian Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $10.17/bbl, Cal24: $9.44/bbl
Europe Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $9.33/bbl, Cal24: $7.73/bbl
