Quake-hit Chile pulls in Asia, U.S. fuel cargoes

SINGAPORE/DUBAI (Reuters) - Chile is importing more oil products from Asia and the United States to make up for supply disruptions due to quake-inflicted damage at two refineries, giving a boost to markets in this region.

At least 60,000 tons of clean products will be shipped from South Korea and Japan to Chile, bringing total Asian volumes to the Latin American country to 140,000 tons so far, ship brokers and traders said on Wednesday.

Two 30,000-tonne vessels -- the Blue Emerald and Formosa Plastics Marine Corp (FPMC) 19 -- have been chartered to carry clean products from Japan and South Korea respectively on March 13, they said.

"The products are likely to be diesel, rather than gasoline at this point," said a Singapore-based trader, who added that Chile will likely pull in gasoline from the West instead of South Korea to plug the supply gap.

Earlier, oil majors ConocoPhillips and Chevron have booked tankers to ship clean products from the United States to Chile for early-March loading.

Conoco booked the 38,000-tonne Cap Billie for loading on March 9-11 from the U.S. Gulf Coast, while Chevron fixed the 30,000-tonne Sabrina Express from the U.S. West Coast for loading on March 11.

It was not immediately clear whether the products shipped were gas oil or gasoline.

Expectations that Chile's supply disruptions could boost diesel demand sent Asian gas oil cracks to their highest levels in 11 months at $9.68 a barrel to Dubai crude on Wednesday.

Gasoline stocks in the U.S. are forecast to have risen 600,000 barrels last week due to lower demand, particularly in the East Coast, as bad weather puts the brakes on long road trips, analysts said. <EIA/S>

SUPPORT TO MARKET

But Chile's quake has buoyed the Asian market, sparking expectations of higher imports due to production disruptions and higher emergency demand, while traders expect a drawdown on U.S. autofuel stocks at some point, especially with the summer driving season starting in May.

Cracks, premiums/losses obtained from refining Brent crude into gasoline, hit a three-week high on Wednesday at $9.07 a barrel.

Traders also said the market has taken a medium-term view of the production problems in Chile as the return of refineries from shutdowns are not immediately clear.

On Tuesday, key Chilean copper mines resumed normal operations after a massive weekend earthquake hit the country, but key oil refineries remained shut.

Officials said Chile's 100,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Aconcagua refinery near Santiago would open next week, but could not say when the bigger Bio Bio refinery, just outside the hard-hit city of Concepcion, would be operational.

At least two players have already booked tankers from Asia to Chile, while another three were looking for vessels.

Morgan Stanley and Vitol have booked medium-range tankers, each carrying 40,000 tons of gas oil for March-loading from South Korea to the South American nation.

Other traders were also heard seeking to charter vessels for similar journeys from Asia to Chile, with ship brokers reporting that they have been deluged by client enquiries for available clean tankers.

State oil company Enap has also delayed a tender to buy crude for its Bio Bio refinery, a news release on its website said Tuesday. No new date has been set for the tender.

Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman said Chile was prepared to import more fuel if needed, but saw "no problems" to fuel supply.

(Reporting by Jennifer Tan, Luke Pachymuthu and Seng Li Peng; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)