Cash premiums for fuel oil eased further on Monday, with more October tenders and loadings set to emerge in the coming days.
The 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cash premium slipped for a fifth consecutive session to $4.25 a metric ton, while October crack FO380DUBCKMc1 declined to a discount of $12.59 a barrel at 0830 GMT.
The very low sulphur fuel oil (VLSFO) spot market was little changed, though downside risk remains on expectations of higher supplies.
Cash premium for 0.5% VLSFO MFO05-SIN-DIF closed at $3.25 a metric ton, while October crack LFO05SGDUBCMc1 fell to a premium of $8.15 a barrel at 0830 GMT.
Indonesia’s Pertamina had offered more residual fuel products for loading in October via tender, shipping records showed.
It offered one cargo of heavy vacuum residue (HVR-1) for loading from Cilacap in a tender that closes on Sept. 18, and two cargoes of decant oil (DCO) for loading from Balongan in a tender that closes on Sept. 28.
These came on top of offers of marine fuel oil (MFO), low sulphur waxy residue (V-1250) and DCO issued via tender last week.
BIOFUEL BUNKERING
South Korean shipper HMM has conducted a bunkering trial on one of its container ships in Busan using marine biofuel supplied by GS Caltex, the company said in a recent statement.
The marine biofuel consists of 30% biodiesel derived from used cooking oil and 70% HSFO, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 24% compared to conventional fuels, said HMM.
OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices rose for a third straight session on Monday, buoyed by forecasts of a widening supply deficit in the fourth quarter after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended cuts and by optimism about a recovery in demand in China.
– China’s diesel exports in August surged from a year earlier and have nearly tripled so far in 2023 compared to the same time a year ago, data showed on Monday, as refiners take advantage of strong regional refining margins to ship fuel overseas.
– Kuwait National Petroleum Company said on Monday it was working to restore full production capacity at Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries after they lost power on Sunday night.
– Chevron said on Monday full production had resumed at its strike-hit Wheatstone liquefied natural gas facility in Western Australia after a fault last week cut production by about one-fifth.
WINDOW TRADES O/AS
– 180-cst HSFO: No trade
– 380-cst HSFO: One trade
– 0.5% VLSFO: No trade
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)