The 0.5% VLSFO cash differential dipped to $4.95 a tonne on Wednesday, with bunker fuel premiums set for a bumpy recovery in March in Singapore as refuelling demand from the shipping sector softened sharply in recent weeks, trade sources said. Latest spot deals on a delivered basis were between $10 and $13 a tonne over Singapore quotes, according to traders. The delivered/ex-wharf spread has narrowed recently, even flipping to a negative spread in some instances, sources said.
FUJAIRAH INVENTORIES Residual fuel oil stocks at Fujairah climbed 7% to 13.20 million barrels (2.08 million tonnes) in the week ended Feb. 27, extending gains from the previous week's surge, showed Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Russian fuel oil barrels continued to flood the trading and blending hub of Fujairah, trade sources said.
PLATTS ANNOUNCEMENT
Commodities pricing agency S&P Global Platts will be excluding Russian-origin material from its assessments of fuel oil cargoes and bunker fuel in Asia and the Middle East from March 1, the company said in a note to subscribers on Wednesday. "The majority of feedback that Platts received suggested that Russian-origin material was no longer merchantable in the open-origin Asian fuel oil and bunker markets and supported its exclusion from the relevant Platts assessments," the company said.
OTHER NEWS
- Oil slipped on Wednesday, giving up an earlier gain, as signs of ample supply and rising U.S. crude inventories countered hopes for higher demand arising from a jump in manufacturing in top crude importer China. - China's CNOOC Ltd has discovered a new oilfield with light crude reserves of 100 million tonnes in the Bohai Sea, which stretches along China's northern coastline, the company said on Wednesday.
- China's Sinopec Corp said on Wednesday it has started building a project worth 10.8 billion yuan ($1.56 billion) in a northern subsidiary refinery aimed at manufacturing more high-end chemicals.
- U.S. crude oil production fell in December to 12.10 million barrels per day (bpd), its lowest since August 2022, Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed.
WINDOW TRADES - 180-cst HSFO: Two trades - 380-cst HSFO: No trade - 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
ASSESSMENTS
FUEL OIL
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE CHANGE PREV CLOSE RIC
Cargo - 0.5% VLSFO 589.92 12.70 577.22 Diff - 0.5% VLSFO 4.95 -0.53 5.48 Cargo - 180cst 453.67 27.94 425.73 Diff - 180cst 3.11 1.86 1.25 Cargo - 380cst 427.99 22.93 405.06 Diff - 380cst 4.25 1.81 2.44 Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 380cst 9.00 2.00 7.00
Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 0.5% VLSFO 10.00 0.00 10.00
For a list of derivatives prices, including
margins, please double click the RICs below.
Brent M1 180cst M1 180cst M1/M2 180cst M2 Visco M1 Visco M2 380cst M1 380cst M1/M2 380cst M2 Cracks 180-Dubai M1 Cracks 180-Dubai M2 East-West M1 East-West M2 Barges M1 Barges M1/M2 Barges M2 Crack Barges-Brent M1 Crack Barges-Brent M2 (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
