Asia’s spot market for high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) ended the week at discounts due to persistent selling interest.

Multiple sellers have emerged to offer the 380-cst product amid high supply inventories.

The Singapore 380-cst HSFO cash differential was pegged at a discount of $4.50 a metric ton, while cracks closed at discounts of about $12 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the cash premium for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) was little changed at $6.75 a metric ton, while cracks held at premiums slightly above $12 a barrel.

The VLSFO market has seen support in recent weeks due to firmer demand for marine bunkers, though ample supplies in Asia continued to cap recovery in prices and margins.

INVENTORIES

– ARA inventories fell 5.7% week-on-week to 1.397 million tons in the week to Feb. 1, data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.

OTHER NEWS

– Oil prices rose on Friday following a decision by OPEC+ to keep its oil output policy unchanged, though benchmarks were headed for weekly losses amid unsubstantiated reports of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

– OPEC+ will decide in March whether or not to extend voluntary oil production cuts in place for the first quarter, two OPEC+ sources said on Thursday after a ministerial panel meeting made no changes to the group’s output policy.

– The G7 price cap coalition imposing a price cap on Russian oil issued an enforcement alert detailing ways that market players evade the mechanism and information on how people can report breaches, the U.S. Treasury Department’s website showed on Friday.

– South Korea’s S-Oil, whose main shareholder is Saudi Aramco, forecast on Friday that 2024 refining margins will maintain at an above-average level helped by steady demand growth and low inventories.

WINDOW TRADES

– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: Three trades
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Tasim Zahid)