The lower margins came in line with other products across the barrel, with margins for clean distillates also weakening in Asia this week.
Front-month crack for 0.5% VLSFO closed lower day-on-day at a premium of $7.43 a barrel on Friday, while the cash premium closed at $3.92 a tonne over Singapore quotes.
Fuel oil stockpiles were steady to higher this week across all key trading hubs, including Singapore, Fujairah and Rotterdam.
Meanwhile, the spot cash premium for 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) inched lower day-on-day at $6.80 a tonne as the product traded lower, while refining margins dipped to a discount of $10.80 a barrel.
ARA INVENTORIES Fuel oil inventories in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub climbed 7% to 1.27 million tonnes in the week ended April 20, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
OTHER NEWS
- Oil prices eased on Friday and looked set for a hefty weekly loss as softening U.S. economic data and a rise in U.S. gasoline inventories raised concerns about a recession and slower global oil demand. - Chinese state oil giants and major private refiners are sweeping up more Russian crude, supporting prices and forcing smaller independents to seek out cheap alternatives such as Iranian oil, according to trade sources and shipping data.
- Volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) stored at sea have increased on an annual basis this month, driven by more vessels in Asia amid high inventories and slow spot demand in Japan, China and South Korea, analysts say.
- Japan received its first low-carbon ammonia cargo from Saudi Arabia on Friday which it plans to use for co-firing with fossil fuels to reduce carbon emissions, a joint statement from the four companies involved in the deal said.
WINDOW TRADES - 180-cst HSFO: No trade - 380-cst HSFO: One trade - 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
ASSESSMENTS
FUEL OIL
CASH ($/T) ASIA CLOSE CHANGE PREV CLOSE RIC
Cargo - 0.5% VLSFO 560.96 -6.51 567.47 Diff - 0.5% VLSFO 3.92 0.47 3.45 Cargo - 180cst 449.61 -6.06 455.67 Diff - 180cst 2.91 0.38 2.53 Cargo - 380cst 447.95 -7.48 455.43 Diff - 380cst 6.80 -0.45 7.25 Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 380cst 11.50 0.50 11.00
Bunker (Ex-wharf) Premium - 0.5% VLSFO 9.50 0.50 9.00
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 Subhranshu Sahu)
