Asia Distillates-Gasoil crack almost doubled since early April

SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) - Asia's gasoil crack forbenchmark 500ppm grade rose 28 cents or 2.5 percent from theprevious session to nearly $12 a barrel, almost double the valueon April 6, as strong demand driven by a severe dry seasonbolstered the market. Other than a transport fuel, diesel/gasoil is used in powergenerators and industrial equipment such as those in irrigation. India, which has been struggling with an extreme droughtlinked to an El Nino weather, saw its diesel imports in Aprilsurged to a five year high of 510,000 tonnes after the fuel fromprivate companies became too expensive in the absence ofdiscounts on taxes and shipping. But traders said the unusually high India's diesel importsare not expected to last given they are weather related. They added that India's key diesel importer, state-ownedIndian Oil Corp, may have resolved the tax and shipping costswith the private refiners although this could not beindependently confirmed. "The El Nino phenomenon is expected to last till June, afterwhich conditions should normalize," analysts at energyconsultancy FGE wrote. Without the weather-induced incremental demand in the secondhalf of the year, Asia's gasoil surplus is expected widen againto an average of 935,000 bpd in the second half of this year, up77,000 bpd from a year ago, FGE added. Middle distillates stocks in Singapore's land storage havealready crept back up to reach a seven-week high of nearly 11.9million barrels in the week to June 1, official data showed. China was a dominant exporter having shipped close to260,000 tonnes of automotive diesel to Singapore, followed bySouth Korea at about 143,000 tonnes, the data showed. SINGAPORE CASH DEALS: A total of 600,000 barrels of gasoilwere traded in Singapore's cash market, the highest volumetraded in a single session in a week. Hin Leong bought two 150,000-barrel 500ppm gasoil cargoesfor June 28 to July 2 loading, one from Lukoil at a premium of33 cents and the other from Shell at a premium of 30 cents. Hin Leong bought a further 150,000 barrel of 500ppm gasoilfor June 26-30 loading from Unipec at a premium of 40 cents. Lukoil sold a second 150,000-barrel cargo of 500ppm grade toBP for June 22-26 loading at $58.20 a barrel. MID-DISTILLATES CASH ($/B) ASIA CLOSE Change % Change Prev RIC Close Spot Gas Oil 0.5% 57.66 0.72 1.26 56.94 GO 0.5 Diff -0.10 0.05 -33.33 -0.15 Spot Gas Oil 0.25% 57.76 0.72 1.26 57.04 GO 0.25 Diff 0.00 0.05 NA -0.05 Spot Gas Oil 0.05% 58.11 0.77 1.34 57.34 GO 0.05 Diff 0.35 0.10 40.00 0.25 Spot Gas Oil 0.001% 59.26 0.67 1.14 58.59 GO 0.001 Diff 1.50 0.00 0.00 1.50 Spot Jet/Kero 58.40 0.58 1.00 57.82 Jet/Kero Diff -0.20 0.05 -20.00 -0.25 For a list of derivatives prices, including margins, please double click the RICs below. Brent M1 Gasoil M1 Gasoil M1/M2 Gasoil M2 Regrade M1 Regrade M2 Jet M1 Jet M1/M2 Jet M2 Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M1 Gasoil 500ppm-Dubai Cracks M2 Jet Cracks M1 Jet Cracks M2 East-West M1 East-West M2 LGO M1 LGO M1/M2 LGO M2 Crack LGO-Brent M1 Crack LGO-Brent M2 (Reporting by Seng Li Peng, editing by David Evans)