Asia’s spot fuel oil market strengthened on Thursday, while onshore inventories at key trading hubs dropped.
The cash differential for 0.5% very low sulphur fuel oil rose to a premium of $5.25 a metric ton, while October crack spread climbed to a premium of $8.73 a barrel.
The 380-cst high sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) cash differential closed at a premium of $9.38 a metric ton, while October crack rose to a discount of $6.78 a barrel.
INVENTORIES
– Singapore onshore fuel oil stocks dipped 2% to 19.45 million barrels (3.06 million metric tons), hitting seven-week lows, data from Enterprise Singapore showed.
– Fujairah fuel oil inventories fell 12% at 8.61 million barrels (1.36 million tons) in the week to Sept. 4, hitting seven-week lows, based on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone data published by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
AMMONIA BUNKERING
Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel vessels, it said on Wednesday.
The ammonia dual-fuel engines will be fitted in a fleet of EPS-managed Newcastlemax vessels and Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs), slated for delivery from 2026 onwards.
Separately, the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF) have signed a two-year coalition partnership agreement on Thursday, during the Gastech 2023 conference.
Under the agreement, GCMD and SGMF will collaborate to shape standards through developing guidelines on the use of ammonia as a marine fuel.
OTHER NEWS
– Oil prices eased on Thursday as worries over demand due to a seasonal slowdown during winter and an uncertain economic outlook for China outweighed expectations of tighter supplies from extended production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia.
– China’s crude oil imports surged in August, customs data showed on Thursday, as refiners built inventories and increased processing to benefit from higher profits from exporting fuel.
– Singapore’s middle distillates stocks climbed to near five-month highs on Thursday, after official data showed the country flipped to becoming a net importer of gasoil for the week and as jet fuel net exports fell.
– Shell considered shutting its flagship Prelude LNG facility off Australia for a year to fix issues that have plagued its operations, but instead opted for shorter maintenance period to allow it to capture strong gas demand, three industry sources said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Sohini Goswami)