China is utilizing the Golden Week holiday to rebuild gasoline and diesel stocks, which are roughly 20M barrels below pre-war benchmarks. This withdrawal coincides with Russia extending its diesel export ban through October 31 and Gulf product exports remaining at 58% of pre-war levels. Whether exports resume after October 7 depends on refinery output and inventories, as the gap is already tightening supplies for European markets that previously relied on Asian jet fuel flows.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Asian Gasoline Margins Hit Record $50 on China Fuel Export Halt
Commodities18 days ago
State oil major PetroChina has canceled the majority of its planned October gasoline and jet fuel shipments as part of a broader move by Beijing to protect domestic inventories. The suspension of shipments to all regions except Hong Kong and Macau has pushed Asian gasoline margins to a record above $50 per barrel over Brent and dropped Singapore's light distillate stocks to a five year low. Singapore is the top buyer of Chinese gasoline at 1.77 Mt this year, while Australia is the No. 2 buyer of its jet fuel.
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