Asia traders mull over storing gasoil, petrol on tankers

Singapore

OIL product traders in Asia are starting to consider storing gasoil and petrol on tankers amid oversupply, weak demand and low crude prices, a move that could mean betting prices for the fuels would recover in two to three months.

Cheap crude oil has been encouraging refineries to maximise throughput, and traders in Asia have also been faced with new competition as capacity added in the Middle East takes market share in their traditional outlets in Europe and Africa.

With oil holding in contango - where prompt contracts are priced lower than those in the future - traders could store surplus fuel in tankers to sell after prices have recovered, a practice already under…