Refining cracks for fuel oil posted a weekly rebound in Asia as of Friday, while cash differentials were little changed from the previous day.
October crack for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) fell to a premium of $8.02 a barrel at 0830 GMT on Friday, though edging higher by 4% from last week, Refinitiv data showed.
Meanwhile, the 0.5% VLSFO cash differential closed at a premium of $5.83 a metric ton.
Onshore inventories for fuel oil fell across all key trading hubs this week, including Singapore, Fujairah and Rotterdam.
On top of the drawdown in stocks, Saudi Arabia’s supply cut extension was also bullish for the market, especially for high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO).
The 380-cst HSFO cash differential FO380-SIN-DIF closed at a premium of $11.25 a ton. October 380-cst HSFO crack FO380DUBCKMc1 fell day-on-day at a discount of $9.07 a barrel, but climbed by nearly 10% from the previous week, based on Refinitiv data.
ARA INVENTORIES
Inventories at ARA STK-FO-ARA fell 2.2% at 1.05 million tons in the week to Sept. 7, hitting nine-month lows, latest data from Dutch consultancy Insights Global showed.
OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices were stable on Friday, as investors weighed fears about the health of China’s economy against supply cuts from major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia.
– Seasonal refinery maintenance in Russia that starts in September will lead to a rise in the state’s oil exports this month, despite Russia’s pledge to cut loadings, Reuters calculations based on sources’ data show.
– Workers at Chevron’s liquefied natural gas projects in Australia went on strike on Friday after talks broke down, potentially disrupting output from facilities that account for over 5% of global supply.
– Singapore’s Energy Market Authority has given conditional approval for the import of two gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from a solar power project in Indonesia, a cabinet minister said on Friday.
WINDOW TRADES O/AS
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: No trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: One trade
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)