Condensate in demand for jet fuel SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Asian sweet crude premiums have surged to multi-month highs as condensate supplies have tightened amid new light fuel demand, crimping a market already hit by output cuts in Libya and restricted arbitrage flows from the Atlantic Basin.
Gas field maintenances in Qatar and Australia have reduced shipments of condensate, a light oil whose prices often move in tandem with Asia's sweet crudes. And this comes just as refiners are stocking up for the peak winter season and new condensate needs arise in China, Indonesia and Thailand.
One example of a condensate is cooking gas, known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases like propane and butane. Naphtha, which is used as a key industrial feedstock, is also a condensate. Jet fuel used to power aircraft and sulphur used to produced sulphuric acid — an important industrial chemical — are key condensates, too. Condensates are, by definition, very light crude oil which find various important uses such as highlighted above.
Jet fuel is in big demand.
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