Spot premium for very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) hit its highest level in more than nine months on Monday, with firm-priced trades emerging in Asia.

The premium was pegged at $15.35 per metric ton to Singapore quotes, the highest since end-November 2023, data showed.

Front-month backwardation also remained wide, pegged at levels above $18 per ton for the balance-September/October contract on Monday.

The VLSFO market has received a boost recently amid tighter supply for prompt dates, market sources said.

Meanwhile, benchmarks for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) also rallied higher on Monday, led by firmer sentiment in the VLSFO market.

In tenders, India’s IOC offered another 25,000 tons of HSFO for September loading, market sources said.

The cargo is scheduled to load from Chennai port between Sept. 21 and 22.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil extended losses on Monday on expectations for higher OPEC+ production starting in October and as signs of sluggish demand in China and the U.S. raised concerns about future consumption growth.

– Libya’s Arabian Gulf Oil Company has resumed output at up to 120,000 barrels per day to meet domestic needs, while exports are still halted, engineers said on Sunday, after a standoff between factions shut most of the country’s oilfields.

– Two unknown projectiles hit a merchant vessel some 70 nautical miles northwest of Yemen’s port of Saleef, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Monday.

– India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd is seeking U.S. approval to operate two projects in sanction-hit Venezuela to boost output, its managing director Rajarshi Gupta said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sonia Cheema)